KUALA LUMPUR: Primary school pupils will soon have a total of 608 hours of mathematics lessons under the 2027 schooling curriculum, says the Education Ministry.
The ministry said the increase from the current 576 hours will be reflected through weekly mathematics lessons set to be at 3.5 hours for Tahap I pupils and three hours each for Tahap II and Tahap III.
Tahap I refers to Year One and Year Two pupils, Tahap II refers to those in Year Three and Year Four while Tahap III are those in Year Five and Year Six.
“Under the 2027 schooling curriculum, mathematics learning and teaching hours will be increased. The changes reflect an increased time allocation by up to 32 hours,” it said in a written reply in Parliament yesterday.
The ministry added that this provides pupils the opportunity to better understand mathematics and apply it in daily situations.
“The increased hours also enable teachers to give special attention and intervention towards students needing additional support,” it said.
Literacy and numeracy mastery programmes will be carried out in primary schools to ensure pupils master this before stepping into secondary school, said the ministry.
“These are strategic measures to strengthen students’ basic literacy and numeracy skills.
“Strong basics are crucial as it forms the foundation of critical thinking, problem solving and the basic skills needed for students to succeed in education as well as life,” it said.
The ministry was responding to a question by Datuk Seri Rafizi Ramli (PH-Pandan) who asked the ministry to state the long-, mid- and short-term measures taken to increase the instruction time for mathematics in primary schools to at least 1,000 hours in order to be on par with other countries such as Cambodia, Myanmar and the Philippines.
On another matter, the ministry said the number of students who took the additional mathematics subject as part of their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examinations in 2024 dropped by 0.94% compared to 2023.
Some 108,885 students took the subject in SPM 2024 as compared to 109,921 in SPM 2023.
The number of students that took physics increased by 0.81% with 91,150 taking the subject in SPM 2024 as compared to 90,778 in SPM 2023.
An increasing trend was also recorded in the takeup rate for chemistry with 92,282 in SPM 2024 compared to 91,674 in SPM 2023.
Students that took biology, however, dropped to 71,522 in SPM 2024 as compared to 71,604 in the year prior.
The ministry explained that efforts are being taken to further develop the competency of teachers teaching science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) subjects in secondary schools.
The ministry was responding to Jeli MP Zahari Kechik who asked about steps taken to reduce the trend in students taking additional mathematics and other pure science subjects, including physics, chemistry and biology.
Meanwhile, the ministry also pledged to safeguard student safety and well-being, after 2,889 bullying cases and 3,570 criminal misconduct cases were reported in schools last year.
“According to the ministry’s data, a total of 2,889 bullying cases were recorded nationwide, comprising 740 cases in primary schools and 2,149 cases in secondary schools.
“Meanwhile, 3,570 criminal misconduct cases were reported, with 457 cases in primary schools and 3,113 cases in secondary schools,” it said in a parliamentary written reply dated Feb 24.
Among the disciplinary actions taken by schools were verbal warnings, written warnings, detention classes, caning, suspension and expulsion.
“These stricter measures are imposed according to the severity of each case,” it added.
It was responding to a question by Klang MP V. Ganabatirau on the issue.
