PUTRAJAYA: The school session for the Academic Calendar 2023/2024 will start from March 19, 2023, for schools in Group A states and March 20, 2023, for schools in Group B states.

The Education Ministry (MoE), in a statement today, stated that for Group A states, namely Johor, Kedah, Kelantan and Terengganu, the school session will be until March 9, 2024, while for schools in Group B states, namely Melaka, Negeri Sembilan, Pahang, Perak, Perlis, Penang , Sabah, Sarawak, Selangor, Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya, it will be until March 10, 2024.

Prior to this, the MoE had set the Academic Calendar for the 2023/2024 session to start on March 12, 2023, for Group A states and March 13, 2023, for Group B states.

"The decision by MoEC to postpone the opening of schools for the 2023/2024 Academic Calendar is to enable the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination can be implemented smoothly," it said.

The ministry also stated that the school session for the Academic Calendar 2023/2024 will be maintained in March 2023 to ensure compliance with the Education (Terms, Days and School Holidays) Regulations 1998 (Amendment) 2021 which stipulate that the number of school days in the academic calendar should not be less than 190 days.


According to the statement, the MoE took note of suggestions from several parties for the start of the new year school session to be reverted to January.

The ministry, it said, was of the view that the matter could be implemented by gradually shortening the school holidays starting from 2023 until 2026.

"However, taking into account the welfare of teachers, students and the impact on the national economy, the MoE decided to postpone this proposal to minimise the impact on the relevant parties," it said.

It said the ministry also took into account the various views received from stakeholders to avoid having the SPM examination to be held in November and December due to the monsoon season.

"Conducting the SPM examination in the monsoon season can cause stress not only for the teachers and examination staff, but also for the students and parents involved.

"By having the SPM in February or March, the waiting period for the candidates concerned to enter university will also be shorter," it read.

The school session for the Academic Calendar 2023/2024 can be downloaded via the MoE website at the link https//www.moe.gov.my/takwim.

-- BERNAMA