PETALING JAYA: An educationist has urged the Education Ministry to revisit the move to reschedule the school session that has been pushed to March and revert to the previous session, which was in January.
Ainee Adina Noor Adlan said there are both pros and cons to scheduling classes in January and March, considering national examinations scheduled in March might be better for students, parents and teachers to avoid the rainy season and floods.
Ainee Adina said the current change from January to March was a result of the disruption caused by Covid related closures.
“The ministry must stick to a firm decision as to whether the change is temporary or permanent. If we change the calendar permanently, all our processes should be aligned to enable that change to be implemented smoothly.”
She added that when it comes to policy making and implementing national level changes, the ministry needs to practise more thorough consultative processes to ensure the preparedness of all stakeholders.
“Rescheduling will not only affect obvious parties like teachers, who set and mark examination papers and the university admissions process, but will also have an indirect impact on sectors like tourism and businesses (such as canteen operators and shops that sell school supplies).”
She also said students sitting for the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) and Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM) examinations will benefit from the March session due to a longer study period and shorter waiting time for tertiary education placement.
Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia Centre of Community Education and Wellbeing senior lecturer Dr Anuar Ahmad said maintaining March as the beginning of the school session is the right decision, taking into account some areas that are affected by floods during the year end that may disrupt teaching processes.
“January is synonymous with the month that marks the beginning of the school year. Every family trip and yearly schedule, including parents’ annual leave, which used to be in late November and throughout December, is based on and adjusted to the school schedule.
“However, the bigger issue here is the inability of children to attend school sessions during monsoon seasons, with schools in affected regions being converted to temporary relief centres.”
Anuar also said a school session that starts in March would reduce idle time and the huge gap between the end of the school term and university admissions.
“The previous school sessions mostly ended in December. Secondary school students will have to wait until mid-August to attend their first class in university, which costs them nine months of waiting.
“The slight change to March would benefit them as the time for them to enter their tertiary education institutions will be around six months.”
On Dec 24, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the school session that was pushed to March would soon be reverted to its original schedule in January, but it could not be implemented this year.
She added that any change to the school session needed to take the SPM, STPM and STAM examinations schedules into account, along with local economic factors and the year-end floods.
The school session for the academic calendar for 2023 and 2024 will start on March 19 for schools in Group A states such as Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, which have Fridays and Saturdays as weekends. It will start on March 20 for schools in other states, which have their weekends on Saturdays and Sundays.
