The education ministry says there will be no reduction in teaching time for Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin and Tamil under the 2027 school curriculum, with all three keeping 12 periods a week.
In a statement, the ministry said the 12 weekly periods will remain for Bahasa Melayu in national schools, Mandarin in Chinese national-type schools and Tamil in Tamil national-type schools.
It said the decision was made after a review and discussions with stakeholders during engagement sessions on the new curriculum, adding that language proficiency and the learning needs of pupils in all school streams remain a priority in curriculum reforms.
A proposed restructuring under the 2027 curriculum would have reduced Tamil lessons in Tamil schools from 12 to 10 periods a week to make room for a new Character Building module. The plan drew objections, including from MIC deputy president M Saravanan, who wrote to Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek on Wednesday and copied Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim.
Saravanan had said the proposed cut worried teachers, parents, parent-teacher associations and the Indian community about the future of mother-tongue education.