KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 12 — Group B schools nationwide opened the 2026 academic year today, marking the return of the national school calendar to a January start after several years of adjustment due to the Covid-19 pandemic since 2020.
Group B includes schools in Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, and the Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, and Putrajaya Federal Territories.
All Group A schools in Kedah, Kelantan, and Terengganu, involving nearly one million students, began the school session yesterday.
The return to a January school opening aims to realign the national education calendar to its original schedule and ensure more consistent teaching and learning periods throughout the year.
Meanwhile, the RM150 Early Schooling Aid (BAP) will continue this year, with distribution to 5.2 million eligible primary and secondary students expected to be completed by this weekend.
In Putrajaya, the Education Ministry's deputy secretary-general (management) Datuk Ahmad Suhaimi Endut said 41,683 students reported for the first day of school at all primary and secondary schools in the Putrajaya Federal Territory today.
“Putrajaya also saw the opening of two new schools, namely SK Putrajaya Presint 5(1) and SMK Putrajaya Presint 15(1),” he told the media after welcoming students at SMK Putrajaya Presint 18(1).
In Perak, state education director Zulkafli Mohamed Mokhtar said 348,594 students from 1,105 schools across the state began the school session today, comprising 162,759 secondary school students and 185,835 primary school pupils.
“This includes 30,456 Form One students, 29,172 Year One pupils and 16,282 preschoolers,” he said during the First Day at School programme at SK Raja Perempuan Muzwin in Kuala Kangsar.
Meanwhile, a Bernama check in Ipoh, Perak, found that students at SK Tasik Damai were welcomed by a mascot from the school’s Parent-Teacher Association (PTA), an initiative aimed at enlivening the atmosphere on the first day of school.
In Penang, state education director Mohamad Dziauddin Mat Saad said 19,705 Year One pupils began the school session today, a decrease of 492 from 20,197 last year.
Speaking to the media after inspecting SK Tan Sri Awang Had Salleh in Balik Pulau, he said RM34.12 million in BAP would be distributed to parents this week, benefiting about 230,000 students statewide.
Meanwhile, in Johor, MOE secretary-general Datuk Aminudin Hassim said 615,120 primary and secondary school students reported for the new school session today. The figure includes 23,740 preschoolers, 55,406 Year One pupils, and 47,237 Form One students.
“Our main focus at the MOE is to address the issue of bullying among students through the implementation of various programmes in collaboration with multiple agencies,” he said during the Back-to-School 2026 programme at SK Dato’ Onn Jaafar in Simpang Renggam.
In Negeri Sembilan, state education director Khalidah Omar said 17,455 Year One pupils had registered for the 2026 school session, of whom 8,059 are preschoolers enrolled in 241 schools across the state.
“This year, for the first time, four new preschools have been opened within secondary school compounds, with three located in Seremban and one in Port Dickson,” she said after a visit in conjunction with the first day of school at SMK Seremban 3 and the opening of a new preschool.
In Perlis, state education director Rose Aza Che Ariffin said 3,705 Year One pupils and 3,923 Form One students have registered for this year’s school session.
Meanwhile, in Melaka, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Ab Rauf Yusoh said 33,385 new and returning students began the school session at 319 schools across the state, comprising 14,220 Year One pupils, 5,837 preschoolers and 13,328 Form One students.
“Overall, more than 161,000 students statewide reported for the new school session, involving 239 primary schools and 80 secondary schools,” he said after visiting SMK Kampung Gelam in conjunction with the first day of school and the presentation of the BAP.
In Pahang, 451 students of SK Satak, from Year One to Form Four, began the school session today and were welcomed with various programmes organised by the Royal Malaysia Police (PDRM).
Batu Talam state assemblyman Datuk Abd Aziz Mat Kiram also presented Tunas Makmur learning equipment kits under the Makmur Pahang Initiative (IM Pahang) to the students.
