By DayakDaily Team
KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7: A total of 3,150 teachers appointed under the Contract of Service (CoS) scheme will receive their offer letters this month as the Education Ministry prepares for next year’s Year One intake, which will comprise two age cohorts.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said the appointments were approved based on projected enrolment and the Ministry of Education’s (MOE) actual staffing requirements.
“Candidates who have passed the health screening will receive their offer letters this month, with the appointments taking effect on Dec 7,” he said during the question-and-answer session in the Dewan Rakyat today.
He was responding to a question from Datuk Seri Aminuddin Harun (PH-Port Dickson) on the MOE’s preparedness in terms of infrastructure and human resources following the decision to allow six-year-old children to enrol in Year One from the 2027 academic session.
Wong said that as of Sept 30, a total of 491,649 pupils had registered for the 2027 school session.
Of this, 418,151 applications were from seven-year-olds, while 73,498 were from six-year-olds.
He said the MOE was also taking steps to ensure adequate infrastructure to accommodate the increased enrolment, including the construction of additional classrooms using the modular Industrialised Building System (IBS).
“Currently, 677 projects are underway involving the construction of 1,478 additional classrooms at 605 schools, in addition to 1,514 maintenance and upgrading projects to convert existing special-purpose rooms into classrooms,” he said.
Wong said the ministry would continue monitoring registration trends and the readiness of schools, state education departments and district education offices, with adjustments to be made as necessary.
“This is because the data is dynamic,” he said.
Responding to a supplementary question from Aminuddin on concerns over a possible surge in last-minute registrations, Wong said the MOE’s monitoring showed that enrolment trends remained consistent, with no sudden spike expected ahead of the 2027 academic session.
He stressed that the policy allowing six-year-olds to enter Year One was based on parental choice, with seven-year-olds remaining the main entry cohort.
The move to allow six-year-olds to enrol in Year One from 2027 marks a change in the country’s primary school entry policy, with the MOE required to prepare both additional teaching capacity and classroom space to accommodate the expanded intake. — Bernama
