During their visit to Japan, two Permata National Education Programme staff members from the Malaysian Ministry of Education visited the EDU-Port Japan Secretariat on November 6, 2025, and exchanged views with the secretariat staff on EDU-Port Japan initiatives and the characteristics of early childhood education in Japan.
Permata Negara is an early childhood education initiative conducted in Malaysia under the supervision of the Ministry of Education which runs 89 childcare facilities called Pusat Anak PERMATA Negara (National Permata Children Centers) across the country. The centers support low-income families, in particular, and are free or low cost for children who meet the admission criteria.
The centers are based on a unique curriculum that incorporates more educational elements (inquiry and experimentation/experience) than traditional childcare-focused programs. The curriculum draws on early childhood education in countries such as the UK, and incorporates the philosophy that “learning is fun.”
The EDU-Port Japan Secretariat staff introduced EDU-Port Japan’s adopted projects in the field of early childhood education, explaining that in Japan, even in preschool education, there is strong emphasis on holistic education that balances “solid academic ability, richness in mind, and healthy body,” and that a distinctive feature of preschool education is “learning through play.”
The Permata Negara Programme staff showed great interest in the explanations given by the secretariat staff. In particular, they asked questions about the training system for kindergarten teachers and childcare workers in Japan, to which the secretariat responded by explaining the responsible authorities and qualification systems for each.
The Permata Negara staff explained that they place emphasis on education and childcare grounded in play, inquiry, and experiential learning, aimed at fostering children’s cognitive, physical, linguistic, social, emotional, and creative development in a well-balanced manner. They exchanged views on various aspects of early childhood education in Japan and Malaysia, including ways to improve children’s concentration and approaches to nurturing creativity.
