KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 27 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim told Parliament this morning that the Education Ministry will scrap the proposed “diagnostic test” for six-year-olds to enrol into Year One.

The announcement came amid growing concerns that the test would be discriminatory and hinder access to education for children who may not pass the test.

Anwar said he agreed with the view, but defended the initial rationale behind the proposed examination.

“The education minister had proposed that the diagnostic test be scrapped, but I’d like to stress here that the initial proposal was good because there is an assessment system to see if the child is ready to start school,” he said in a reply to Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman.

“But then we thought this may be discriminative, meaning it may cause psychological impact to a child because he is perceived to be less intelligent if he cannot enrol, hence the test is scrapped.

“So I agreed with the proposal (to remove it),” Anwar added.

The prime minister also defended the proposed examination for Year Four pupils, saying the test at that stage of the education system would give policymakers two years to assess students’ “readiness” for secondary school.

“There is wisdom in… in doing examinations for Year Four. The point is there is an evaluation system that gives us a two-year window to improve whatever needs improving before they go into Form One,” he said.

“But it is normal that any policy decision will create a little controversy. If we did Year Three tests, people will criticise; Year Six tests, people will criticise.

“Even if we don’t do any tests at all, people will criticise. So we decided to do it at Year Four so we can evaluate the effectiveness,” the Tambun MP added.

Critics of the new policy, including the National Union of the Teaching Profession, said the plan could create significant logistical and infrastructure strain, particularly the risk of “double cohorts” in 2027.

By allowing six-year-olds to join seven-year-olds in Year One, concerns have been raised that schools could face overcrowded classrooms and a severe shortage of teachers trained in early childhood development.

While the Education Ministry (MOE) has suggested using Industrialised Building System (IBS) methods for rapid classroom expansion, scepticism remains over whether facilities — such as child-friendly toilets and play-based learning areas — are ready to meet the physical and emotional needs of a much younger student population.