Malaysia’s new preschool curriculum emphasises six key areas including socio-emotional skills, physical wellbeing, language, and cognitive development
KUALA LUMPUR: The new preschool curriculum implemented this school year focuses children’s learning on six key areas, said Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek.
The six main areas are socio-emotional; physical and personal wellbeing; language and literacy; spirituality, values and citizenship; creativity and aesthetics; and cognitive development.
Fadhlina said the socio-emotional domain emphasises developing children’s ability to recognise and manage their own emotions and build relationships with others and their environment.
The physical and personal wellbeing field focuses on health awareness, including healthy eating, hygiene, safety, and Reproductive and Social Health Education (PEERS).
The language and literacy domain concentrates on mastering communication skills, exposure to basic literacy and language, and fostering a reading interest among children.
The spirituality, values and citizenship field is divided into three sub-areas: Islamic education, moral education, and citizenship education.
“For the Islamic education sub-area, Muslim children will be taught basic knowledge, attitudes, values, and practices of Islamic teachings in daily life, including basic Jawi writing,” said Fadhlina.
The moral education sub-area focuses on forming basic values like love, honesty, respect, and diligence through enjoyable learning approaches to develop moral awareness and positive behaviour.
The citizenship education sub-area aims to foster children’s awareness of their rights and responsibilities as citizens, instil patriotism, and develop the ability to contribute to family and community wellbeing.
In the creativity and aesthetics domain, children are given opportunities to explore and appreciate environmental beauty while developing imagination and creativity through visual arts, music, movement, and drama.
The cognitive domain exposes children to develop curiosity and interest in exploring the world around them, encouraging systematic thinking, interaction, and information sharing to solve problems.
Fadhlina hopes the new curriculum can produce a holistic, balanced, and globally competitive early generation.
