PETALING JAYA: The academic calendar for educational institutions in Johor will shift next year in line with Johor Regent Tunku Ismail Sultan Ibrahim's decree that starting Jan 1, the state will revert to a Saturday-Sunday weekend.
The Education Ministry said this would mean Johor will be grouped together with Kuala Lumpur, Labuan, Putrajaya, Melaka, Negri Sembilan, Pahang, Perlis, Pulau Pinang, Perak, Sabah, Sarawak and Selangor (Group B states), which follow the Saturday-Sunday weekend.
“This change will come into effect on Jan 1, 2025. It will involve changes to the 2024/2025 Session Academic Calendar and the 2025/2026 Session Academic Calendar,” it said in a statement Friday (Oct 11).
Meanwhile, state education and information committee chairman Aznan Tamin said this meant that the implementation of the new weekend schedule would start before the the current term ends on Jan 18, 2025.
He added that a coordination meeting was held between the Johor Education Department and the Johor Islamic Religious Department to ensure smooth enforcement of the new weekend holiday starting next year.
Aznan, who is also the Tanjung Surat assemblyman, shared this on the sidelines of a legal literacy carnival at Dewan Kejora in Bandar Penawar on Friday (Oct 11).
He explained that the change will impact 583,373 students and more than 48,000 teachers in Johor’s public schools under the Education Ministry.
The Johor Education Department will work closely with the District Islamic Education Office to facilitate students' school schedules during the transition.
“We will begin immediately next year, allowing for some practical adjustments in learning and transportation for students before the current term ends,” Aznan said.
He also mentioned that the results of the meeting between the Johor Education Department and the District Islamic Education Office will be submitted to Johor Mentri Besar Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi before being presented to Tunku Ismail.
During the meeting, which was also attended by state islamic religious affairs committee chairman Mohd Fared Mohd Khalid, they discussed managing the schedules of public and Islamic school students following the weekend change.
"There is no issue in conducting school sessions on Fridays. Morning session students will finish at 12 pm, while afternoon sessions will begin at 2:30pm," he added.
On Monday (Oct 7), the Johor Regent made an official announcement on the change in weekend days, ending an 11-year period where Friday and Saturday were designated as the official days off since 2014.
The academic calendar for 2025 can be seen here: https://www.moe.gov.my/
