KUALA LUMPUR – The number of primary school students enrolled in private institutions has increased by 53% over the past 14 years, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek (Nibong Tebal-PH) revealed.
As of the first quarter of 2024, Fadhlina said 41,610 students are enrolled in primary-level private institutions, with 27,136 students in religious schools and the remaining 14,474 in academic schools.
“A comparison of student enrollment data in private primary schools from 2010 to 2024 shows an upward trend of 53%,” she said in Parliament yesterday.
Meanwhile, Fadhlina said that as of the first quarter of this year, 24,718 students are enrolled in secondary-level education.
Of these, 14,866 are in academic schools, and 9,852 are in religious schools.
She added that from 2010 to 2024, there has been a similar upward trend, with a 7% increase in student enrollment.
Citing Section 74 of the Education Act 1996, Fadhlina explained that private schools, whether primary, secondary, or both, are privately owned institutions that conduct the national curriculum in alignment with the national education system’s standards.
She further explained that private institutions are mainly divided into two categories: academic schools, which conduct the national curriculum, and religious schools, which do the same but with an Islamic curriculum supervised by respective state religious authorities.
Fadhlina was responding to DAP’s Yeo Bee Yin (Puchong-PH), who inquired about the number of primary and secondary school students enrolled in private institutions between 2000 and 2024.
Yeo also asked about the number of private primary and secondary schools, including homeschools, for the same period.
Fadhlina said there are 133 private primary schools as of the first quarter, with 68 being academic schools and 65 being religious, increasing by 43%.
For private secondary schools, she said 109 schools have been established, an increase of 21%. Out of this, 68 schools are academic, and the remaining 41 are religious institutions. – July 3, 2024