Start of school year to revert to January in 2026

The education ministry today said that the start of the academic calendar would revert to January in 2026, with efforts to bring this forward to February for the 2024/2025 academic session. 

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said her ministry was planning a return to the original January starting point, as had been the case before the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. 

She said this was to ensure that the teaching and learning process could be conducted in an optimum manner, especially during the 36-week learning period to complete the entire curriculum throughout the year.

She said the ministry was also bringing the public examination schedule in line with the change in the academic calendar following the country's transition to the endemic phase. 

"The calls for the academic year to begin in January will be met in 2026.

"The education ministry hopes that with this announcement, the financial and economic aspects can be planned by all related parties," she said during the Minister's Question Time in the Dewan Rakyat. 

The education ministry had previously assured that the school year would revert to beginning in January, adding however this would take time to implement. 

The start of the school calendar was changed from January to March in 2022, after the government announced that the 2021 school session would be extended to February the next year following disruptions caused by the pandemic and the ensuing lockdowns.