{
  "id": 18305152,
  "title": "No cut in Tamil, Mandarin or Malay teaching hours under new curriculum",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/11/05/no-cut-in-tamil-mandarin-or-malay-teaching-hours-under-new-curriculum",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-11-05T12:09:00.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Free Malaysia Today",
    "slug": "free-malaysia-today",
    "url": "https://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2026/11/05/no-cut-in-tamil-mandarin-or-malay-teaching-hours-under-new-curriculum"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Malaysian education ministry has decided to maintain the current weekly teaching periods for Bahasa Melayu, Mandarin, and Tamil under the revised curriculum for 2027. This decision was made after reviewing feedback from stakeholders and discussions held during engagement sessions to shape the country's future educational framework. The ministry expressed gratitude towards all individuals who participated in shaping the new curriculum, emphasizing that language proficiency and the academic requirements of students across all educational streams remain a top priority. MIC deputy president M Saravanan had previously raised concerns regarding the proposed reduction in Tamil-language teaching hours in Tamil national-type schools from 12 to 10 periods per week. Saravanan highlighted that this change raised concerns among teachers, parents, parent-teacher associations, and the Indian community concerning the future of mother-tongue education in the country.",
  "summary": "The education ministry says the decision follows consultations with stakeholders and a review of the 2027 school curriculum.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}