KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry has cut back on new classrooms for the 2027 Year One intake and will convert 1,514 special rooms in schools into classrooms instead, after only 73,498 six-year-olds registered for early entry.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said the ministry had originally planned 2,596 new classrooms at 838 schools using the industrialised building system (IBS) modular method.
"However, taking into account the registration of six-year-olds, which stands at only 73,498 pupils, the ministry is currently carrying out 677 additional classroom projects at 605 schools," he said during Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat on Wednesday (Oct 7).
He said the 677 projects involved 1,478 classrooms.
Wong said 1,514 maintenance and upgrading projects were also under way to convert special rooms into classrooms.
He said the six-year-old registrations, as of Sept 30, compared with 418,151 seven-year-olds, bringing total Year One registrations for 2027 to 491,649.
In June, the ministry said 73,386 six-year-olds and 405,033 seven-year-olds had registered.
Wong said 3,150 contract teachers had been approved to cope with the six-year-old intake and would receive their offers this month, subject to health screening, with appointments taking effect on Dec 7.
He was replying to Datuk Seri Utama Aminuddin Harun (PH-Port Dickson), who cited Statistics Department data estimating 439,744 six-year-olds and 471,504 seven-year-olds who must enter Year One.
Aminuddin asked whether the ministry would step up efforts to encourage more six-year-olds to register, and whether a late surge would leave schools short of teachers.
Wong said registrations had been largely flat for about three months.
"We do not expect a sharp increase in these two months," he said, adding that the ministry would continue to monitor the figures.
He said parents were given the choice in the first year because they best understood their children's readiness.
Replying to a supplementary question from the Kuala Krai MP, Wong said the ministry expected six-year-old enrolment to rise in the following years.
Entry into Year One at six is voluntary from 2027, while entry at seven remains the main pathway during the transition.
