20000103

Malaysia may

fine-tune education

system

KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia may make kindergarten compulsory for all five-year-olds and cut its total school years to 12 as part of efforts to fine-tune the education process, reports said on Sunday.

Malaysian children now spend six years in primary school and seven years in secondary school before entering university.

But under the new idea, total school years would be reduced to 12 like in most countries including the United States, newly appointed Education Minister Musa Mohamad was quoted as saying by the Sunday Star.

In additional, there will be one year of pre-primary to lay the foundation for basic education, Musa said.

"We are looking at the whole education system from the bottom upwards with a view of making ours the best in the world," the New Sunday Times quoted him as saying.

Musa, a former university vice-chancellor, is a political newcomer appointed to Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's new cabinet last month after the ruling coalition won November 29 polls.

He is the first academic to be appointed to the post and was sworn in as a member of the senate (upper house) for a three-year term so he can serve.ÑAFP