Education Minister Maszlee Malik has lamented his "trivial" comment about the colour of students' socks in school being highlighted by Utusan Malaysia, while his more important point about university hospitals was ignored.

"I spoke about a trivial matter for less than a minute and Utusan reported it, even former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak was interested.

"I discussed important matters relating to university hospitals but none wanted to sensationalise it," Maszlee said in a Facebook post today.

Yesterday, Najib mocked Maszlee for his "far-sightedness" in introducing a colour change for students' shoes and socks in school.

“It’s a pity that BN ministers had not conducted such studies in the past," he had said.

Maszlee had commented on the colour of school socks when responding to a question.

This followed the Education Ministry's announcement that white school shoes would gradually be replaced by black ones, with the measure to be fully implemented in 2021.

Maszlee was asked about the matter during a visit to the Universiti Malaya Medical Centre (UMMC), where he sought feedback from doctors on the centre’s daily operations.

Meanwhile, UMMC director Tunku Kamarul Zaman Tunku Zainol Abidin said the colour of socks had not been a topic of discussion during Maszlee's visit to the university hospital.

Tunku Kamarul said the focus had been on teaching and research methods to spur excellence at the centre.

"It would have been nice if all the reporting had emphasised on this visit to this hospital... rather than this socks issue," he said in a Facebook post.