Preschool Physical Environment Design Quality: Addressing Malaysia's PISA Rankings

Abstract

PISA assessments revealed cognitive abilities of Malaysian children remained unsatisfactory. Poor cognitive school readiness (SR) among preschoolers, contributing to inadequate cognitive development, is a factor. Excellent preschool physical environments (PPE) could potentially improve childhood cognitive development by boosting cognitive SR. This study aims to highlight the significance of PPE design quality on children's cognitive SR in Malaysia. A cohort study comprising 16 Ministry of Education (MOE) preschools with 336 children was done. PPE design quality showed significant positive association with cognitive SR. Conclusively, good PPE design should contribute to improved PISA ranking by ensuring better cognitive development of Malaysian preschoolers.