Year 1 entry at the age of six: MOE needs to provide a comprehensive explanation – Mohd Radzi

THE Ministry of Education (MOE) needs to provide a comprehensive explanation regarding the early entry of six-year-old children into Year One.

Putrajaya Member of Parliament, Datuk Dr Mohd Radzi Md Jidin, said the government needs to have a clear plan regarding the policy to ensure that its implementation does not cause confusion among parents, teachers and schools.

“Usually, when at the MOE, for every major policy, we will hold a press conference with a complete presentation of what is to be implemented.

"Plan well and then present to the people what needs to be implemented so that access (to education) is fair to all," he said in a Facebook post on Thursday.

Previously, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek stressed that early entry of six-year-old children into year one would be implemented flexibly, not mandatory and would only involve parents and students who are ready.

She said parents need to assess their children's readiness before registering for school, while the MOE will conduct diagnostic tests to identify the basic level of education and the specific needs of each student.

Mohd Radzi, who is also a former Education Minister, touched on the diagnostic tests implemented by the MOE to identify the basic level of education and the specific needs of students for admission.

He said that there are still many people who do not clearly understand the government's initiative.

"This is the most asked question out there: What form of test will be implemented?

"If the test is to be implemented for entering year one, at the age of six, does that mean the test will be implemented at the age of five?" he asked.

He said that last year, about 440,000 students formed the year one cohort nationwide.

“Let’s say a fairly large class of 40 students per class. We see that the number of classes needed is around 10,000 classes to accommodate these 400,000 students.

“We don’t want a situation where parents compare their children who have entered year one at the age of six with other families.

“We don’t want a situation where there might be tuition for this test,” he said. – January 22, 2026