Malaysia’s chief statistician Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the 5,858 children made up only 0.06 per cent from the total number of children in Malaysia in 2020. – Picture by Shafwan Zaidon
PUTRAJAYA, Dec 2 — The number of children needing care and protection from the relevant institutions for children dropped by 8.2 per cent to 5,858 in 2020 from 6,382 in 2019, according to the Children Statistics, Malaysia, 2021, issued today.
Malaysia’s chief statistician, Datuk Seri Mohd Uzir Mahidin said the 5,858 children made up only 0.06 per cent from the total number of children in Malaysia in 2020.
“The statistics show that more female children needed care and protection, forming 63.3 per cent compared to the boys (36.7 per cent),” he said in a statement today.
Based on the population statistics in 2021, Mohd Uzir said children under the age of 18 years were estimated to comprise 9.13 million or 28 per cent of Malaysia’s total population of 32.7 million.
He noted that the number of children in 2021 was lesser by about 100,400 from 9.23 million recorded in 2020.
“The drop was significant in the 0-4 years age group, comprising 2.5 per cent or 64,500 following the decline in live births to 470,200 in 2020 from 488,000 in 2019.
The Federal Territory of Putrajaya has recorded the highest percentage of children under the age of 18 years at 37.2 per cent, followed by Terengganu (35.6 per cent) and Kelantan (34.7 per cent),” he added.
To meet the need for childcare, Mohd Uzir said the number of registered childcare centres rose by 8.1 per cent to 5,302 in 2020, with the highest number recorded in Selangor (1,774), followed by Kuala Lumpur (525) and Perak (413).
He said the school enrolment transition rate from the primary to secondary level showed an increase of 0.6 per cent in 2020 to 89.4 per cent in 2020 from 88.8 per cent in 2019, while that from the lower to higher secondary level increased by 1.4 per cent to 97.9 per cent.
The enrolment transition rate from the upper secondary level to beyond dropped to 3.5 per cent compared to 17.9 per cent the previous year because of the postponed intake of students for the June 2020 session due to the Covid-19 pandemic, he added. — Bernama