KUALA LUMPUR, March 3 — Year One admission at age six has elicited positive response from parents, Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said.
He said data up to yesterday showed that 351,789 applications were recorded for the 2027 intake, including for 51,457 children aged five.
“This reflects the confidence of parents in their children’s readiness as well as the breadth of the system introduced,” he said when winding up the Education Ministry’s (MOE) debate on the motion of thanks for the Royal Address in the Dewan Negara today.
To support the admission, he said the government will boost access to preschool education by expanding facilities in primary schools, secondary schools, vocational colleges, matriculation colleges and Teacher Education Institutes (IPG).
“Currently, there are 10,514 preschool classes in 6,469 institutions. The government had planned to add 150 new classes in 2025 and another 350 in 2026, bringing the total government preschool capacity to 256,894 places, with current enrolment at 217,041 pupils,” he said.
Meanwhile, Deputy Women, Family and Community Development Minister Lim Hui Ying, when winding up for her ministry, said 10,651 participants had benefited from 70 women’s economic empowerment programmes since January this year.
She said that last year, 824 programmes were carried out, involving 31,025 participants nationwide, including the flagship Income Generation Skills Programme, which aims to guide women in acquiring the knowledge and skills to manage and expand their businesses.
“Since its implementation from 2022 to 2025, 1,158 participants have been trained, with an average monthly income increase of between RM1,000 and RM1,500,” Lim said.
