Education Ministry Scraps Low-Impact Competitions to Reduce Teachers’ Workload

Education Minister Datuk Seri Fadhlina Sidek has outlined measures being taken to reduce teachers’ workload, including scrapping school competitions that have little direct impact on learning.

She said competitions such as “most beautiful toilet”, “best garden” and “best classroom” were among programmes being removed as part of seven initial steps to ease administrative pressure on teachers. 

KPM cuts unnecessary school programmes to give teachers more time to teach

Fadhlina explained that such competitions often involve far more than decoration, requiring teachers to attend meetings, prepare materials, compile documentation and submit reports.

She said these activities consume teachers’ time and energy, taking them away from their core responsibility of teaching and educating students. 

The minister said the Education Ministry would continue reviewing other programmes and activities that add to teachers’ workload without delivering meaningful educational benefits.

The approach is aimed at allowing teachers to focus on classroom instruction, student development and other tasks directly linked to learning outcomes, rather than administrative or ceremonial requirements.