Fatimah: Education, early childhood care sector must adapt to six-year-old Year One policy

KUCHING (Feb 24): The state’s early childhood care and education (ECCE) sector must adapt to the policy allowing six-year-old children to enter Year One beginning in 2027, said Minister of Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.

She said this at a press conference held by the Sarawak Early Childhood Development Council (MPAKS) at Baitulmakmur II here on Tuesday.

Fatimah noted that the Ministry of Education (MOE) is currently giving parents the flexibility to decide whether to enrol their children in Year One at six years old or retain them in kindergarten (tadika) until they reach seven, as previously practised.

“This is not compulsory at this point. There is still a choice for parents whether to send their six-year-old children to Year One or to keep them in tadika. And when they reach seven, then only send them to Year One. That choice remains with the parents,” she said.

However, she said the policy would significantly affect the state’s ECCE ecosystem, particularly in terms of enrolment patterns, financial sustainability and developmental readiness.

“Previously, six-year-old children were still in tadika. With the new age specification, some of the six-year-olds will no longer be in tadika if parents choose to enrol them in Year One.

“If this happens, in terms of numbers, 33 per cent of children in tadika will be affected. This will also impact tadika operators where about 30 per cent who were previously there move on to Year One.

“It is not just the number of children that will decrease, but the number of teachers will also be affected. If there are fewer children, there will be fewer teachers needed. That is our concern, as some pre-school teachers may be out of jobs,” she said.

On parental readiness and public sentiment, she revealed that 70.6 per cent of parents are not agreeable to six-year-olds entering Primary One due to concerns that children may be too young.

“Academic, emotional maturity, learning readiness and social adaptation, these are the concerns raised by parents. Most parents still prefer the traditional way where zero to four-years-old are placed in childcare centres (taska) while ages four to six enrol in tadikas,” she said.

She explained that the proposal involves integrated licensing to allow taska and tadika to operate on the same site with shared facilities such as kitchens, outdoor play areas and administrative space, subject to space and age-appropriate zoning requirements.

She said the move would help reduce operating costs for providers, improve services and ensure continuity for children.

“This is a way forward for tadika and taska in the state. If there are issues faced by our children in terms of developmental matters, emotional, physical or social, it is easier to discuss when teachers can communicate effectively (when it is located on the same premises). From the aspect of land use policy in the state, it has to change accordingly.

“Now what we do under our ministry and the children’s development council is that we must be ready for this change. We have seen this before when we implemented the dual language programme so this is similar,” she said.