The Education Ministry has received almost 400,000 early registrations for Year 1 in 2027, prompting plans for teacher recruitment and classroom mapping.

TAIPING: The Ministry of Education (MOE) has received a total of 398,671 registrations for Year One admission in 2027 as of yesterday.

Deputy Minister of Education Wong Kah Woh said 338,714 of these were for students aged seven, while 59,957 involved admission at the age of six.

He stated that final registration statistics would be available by the end of this month. This data will verify the actual demand and determine how many additional classrooms specific schools require.

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“But that doesn’t mean that we currently don’t have any plans…no. Indeed, for schools that have trends and tradition of attracting more student enrolment, we are ready with our mapping but our mapping will be finalised by the end of this month,” he said.

Wong was speaking to reporters after the Ministry of Education’s Jaulah Ramadan Programme press conference at Maahad Al-Tarbiah Al-Islamiah Government Aided Religious School here today.

He also addressed the recruitment of 20,000 new contract teachers this month as a short-term measure. This recruitment targets university graduates without professional teaching qualifications to meet the expected surge in student numbers.

The measure anticipates a double cohort situation in 2027 when six-year-old students begin entering Year One. Wong assured that plans are in place to manage the increased demand for both infrastructure and teaching staff.

“We estimate there will be a double cohort situation from which it doesn’t matter in terms of infrastructure, availability of classrooms or availability of teachers, we already have a plan,” he said.

 The Sun Malaysia