Early childhood education provisions, interventions, and child outcomes in Malaysia: A 25-year review.

This article focuses on a systematic review of early childhood education (ECE) research in Malaysia over the past 25 years, examining the relationships between ECE provisions, instructional interventions, and child developmental outcomes. The review found consistent positive associations between ECE and improvements in literacy, numeracy, and socioemotional development, while noting that structural features like preschool type and enrollment duration are underexplored. It highlights methodological limitations in the existing literature, such as reliance on quasi-experimental designs, short intervention periods, and lack of longitudinal data, and calls for future research to incorporate rigorous longitudinal methods, process quality measures, and attention to ethnic and socioeconomic diversity. The findings aim to inform policy and practice to improve ECE access and quality in Malaysia. [Extracted from the article]