2026/2027 SCHOOL SESSION BEGINS TODAY IN KEDAH, KELANTAN AND TERENGGANU

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 11 (Bernama) -- The 2026/2027 school session in all Group A schools in Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, involving almost one million students, began smoothly today.

In KEDAH, 345,259 students in 753 primary and secondary schools began the school session today.

State Education Department (JPN) director Abdul Rahim Mat said the figures comprised 199,208 pupils in 548 primary schools and 146,051 students in 205 secondary schools.

“A total of 29,004 pupils entered Year One and 28,778 students entered Form One, while 30,674 teachers have reported for duty this year.

“School operations throughout Kedah have so far been running smoothly. The main focus of the Kedah JPN this year is to address the problem of student dropouts and absenteeism, and to ensure that all students attend school,” he said after visiting Sultan Abdul Hamid College in Alor Setar in conjunction with the first day of the 2026 school session.

In KELANTAN, a total of 333,206 primary and secondary school students began the school session today across the state.

According to the Kelantan Education Department, the figure comprised 204,389 primary school pupils and 128,817 secondary school students.

Meanwhile, deputy secretary-general (Planning and Development) of the Ministry of Education (MOE) Datuk Wan Hashim Wan Rahim said Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Pulau Beluru in Tumpat has become the first Comprehensive Special Education Model School 11 (K11) in the state.

“It is an upgrade from the previous K9 category, involving the phased implementation of additional facilities to address overcrowding without the need to build a new school, which takes a long time.

“The ministry is now focusing on constructing additional blocks such as classrooms and support facilities that can be completed within six months to meet current needs, compared with building new schools, which take up to three or four years,” he said.

In TERENGGANU, a total of 256,822 students in 507 schools began the school session today.

Deputy director-general of Education (School Operations Sector) Zainal Abas said that of the total, 9,528 were preschoolers, 148,886 were primary school pupils in 352 schools, and 107,936 were secondary school students in 155 schools.

“This year marks the first year of the implementation of the new preschool curriculum, making preschool pupils the first group to go through the curriculum,” he said.

“These preschoolers will also be the first cohort to use the new school curriculum when they enter Year One in 2027, in line with the introduction of the curriculum in that year,” he said.

Zainal said students will also benefit from the Supplementary Food Programme (RMT) at the beginning of the school session, as it is important to assist students who may not have had the time or opportunity to eat breakfast before going to school.

He said the RMT is one of 18 forms of assistance provided by the government to school students and plays a role in helping to meet part of their daily calorie requirements.

According to the 2026 Academic Calendar issued by MOE, the school session for schools in Johor, Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang, Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, as well as the Federal Territories of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, will begin tomorrow.

-- BERNAMA