Malaysia maintains weekly teaching hours for Tamil, Chinese and Malay

The decision to preserve existing teaching allocations for Tamil, Chinese and Malay reflects the ministry's commitment to maintaining support for vernacular education in Malaysia's multilingual school system. Education officials said the determination was reached after extensive engagement sessions with relevant parties involved in developing the Kurikulum Persekolahan 2027, or 2027 School Curriculum framework.

The 12-hour weekly allocation ensures that students in vernacular schools continue to receive dedicated time for instruction in their respective mother tongues alongside the national curriculum. This represents a continuation of current practice rather than a reduction in language teaching hours, addressing concerns that had been raised during the curriculum development process.

The ministry's approach underscores Malaysia's ongoing recognition of linguistic diversity as a key component of the national education system. The preservation of teaching hours for the three main vernacular languages follows a comprehensive review process designed to gather input from educators, administrators and community representatives.

Implementation of the 2027 curriculum framework is expected to proceed with these parameters in place, ensuring continuity in the delivery of mother tongue instruction across Malaysian schools.