Why is there no official figure?
The Ministry of Education's e-Prasekolah register records each centre's name, registration code, operating agency (private, KEMAS, KPM or JPNIN), address and phone number. It does not record religion, curriculum or affiliation. So every count of "Islamic kindergartens" in Malaysia, including this one, is inferred from how centres name themselves.
We counted a centre only when its registered name states an Islamic programme or an Islamic authority, for example "Tadika Islam", "Tahfiz", "Raudhatul" or a centre run by a state religious department. An Arabic word used simply as a name was not enough.
How many Islamic kindergartens are there, in Malaysia and the Klang Valley?
| Malaysia | Klang Valley | |
|---|---|---|
| Registered kindergartens | 23,903 | 3,776 |
| Name declares an Islamic programme | 931 (3.9%) | 310 (8.2%) |
| Of those, private centres | 867 | 302 |
| Share of all private tadika | 11.3% | 13.6% |
Klang Valley here means Kuala Lumpur, Putrajaya and the Selangor districts of Petaling Perdana, Petaling Utama, Hulu Langat, Klang, Gombak, Sepang and Kuala Langat. Counting the whole of Selangor instead gives 338.
What makes up the total?
| Signal in the registered name | Malaysia | Klang Valley |
|---|---|---|
| Names built on "Khalifah" | 300 | 108 |
| Names built on "Aulad" (includes Genius Aulad) and Brainy Bunch | 157 | 59 |
| Run by a state Islamic religious authority (JAIM, MAIWP, JAIS) | 156 | 74 |
| Name contains "Islam" or "Islamik" | 95 | 36 |
| Tahfiz, Hafiz or Huffaz | 69 | 4 |
| Agama (religious school, mostly Tadika Agama Johor) | 45 | 1 |
| Raudhah or Raudhatul | 35 | 10 |
| Muslim, Muslimin or Muslimat | 28 | 9 |
| Darul or Darussalam (state honorifics excluded) | 27 | 6 |
| Al-Amin | 20 | 7 |
| Quran or Iqra | 7 | 0 |
| Ulul Albab | 7 | 2 |
| Tarbiah or Tarbiyah | 3 | 0 |
| PASTI (Pusat Asuhan Tunas Islam) | 4 | 1 |
| Adni | 2 | 1 |
A centre can match more than one signal, so the rows add up to slightly more than the total.
Two naming families, "Khalifah" and "Aulad", account for 457 matches, about 49% of the total. They are common words, not one chain each. The largest named networks are Brainy Bunch (76 centres) and Genius Aulad (15 centres); the rest are separate operators using the same words.
Which states have the most?
| State | Islamic kindergartens | All kindergartens | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Selangor | 240 | 3,425 | 7.0% |
| Johor | 114 | 3,290 | 3.5% |
| Melaka | 95 | 877 | 10.8% |
| WP Kuala Lumpur | 80 | 765 | 10.5% |
| Kedah | 67 | 1,768 | 3.8% |
| Kelantan | 58 | 1,418 | 4.1% |
| Negeri Sembilan | 46 | 1,074 | 4.3% |
| Terengganu | 44 | 1,273 | 3.5% |
| Pahang | 41 | 1,581 | 2.6% |
| Pulau Pinang | 35 | 1,015 | 3.4% |
| Perak | 33 | 1,895 | 1.7% |
| Sarawak | 25 | 2,697 | 0.9% |
| Sabah | 22 | 2,362 | 0.9% |
| WP Putrajaya | 18 | 111 | 16.2% |
| Perlis | 8 | 280 | 2.9% |
| WP Labuan | 5 | 72 | 6.9% |
Melaka ranks high for a policy reason, not a market one: its state Islamic religious department (JAIM) runs 74 kindergartens of its own. In Kuala Lumpur the federal territory religious council (MAIWP) does the same.
Where are they in the Klang Valley?
| District | Islamic kindergartens |
|---|---|
| Hulu Langat | 59 |
| Petaling Perdana | 56 |
| WP Kuala Lumpur, Zon Bangsar and Pudu | 35 |
| WP Kuala Lumpur, Zon Keramat | 25 |
| Gombak | 22 |
| Klang | 22 |
| WP Kuala Lumpur, Zon Sentul | 20 |
| Kuala Langat | 18 |
| Petaling Utama | 18 |
| WP Putrajaya | 18 |
| Sepang | 17 |
What does this number leave out?
- It is a floor, not a total. Only 4 registered names mention PASTI, the Islamic kindergarten network. That is far too few for a network of its size, so many Islamic centres either register under other names or sit outside this register.
- 457 more centres have Arabic names such as Tadika Al-Hidayah or Tadika Iman without declaring a programme. In Malaysia that is ordinary naming and is not evidence either way, so they are not counted.
- 71 centres meet at a mosque or surau. Almost all are KEMAS community kindergartens using the building. That is a venue, not a curriculum, so they are listed separately.
- Curriculum is a different question. KEMAS kindergartens (7,998) and government prasekolah classes (6,480) include Islamic religious education for Muslim children. Counted by curriculum rather than by how a centre presents itself, the answer would be far larger.
How we counted
The count runs on every centre in the current KPM e-Prasekolah register each time the site is rebuilt. 789 centres whose names mark a non-Muslim institution (national-type Chinese and Tamil school classes, church and Buddhist kindergartens) were excluded first; none of them also carried an Islamic signal. The word "Darul" was not counted when it formed part of a state honorific such as Darul Aman or Darul Naim, and "Masjid Tanah", a town in Melaka, was not counted as a mosque.
Every centre has its own page on this site with its KPM code, address and phone number. Browse kindergartens by state to check any of them.