MARANG: Mohd Hadif Zafreel Mohd Hasrul Apandi went to bed early last night and woke up very early this morning, eager to attend his first day of school at Sekolah Kebangsaan Marang, and to make new friends.
In fact, one week earlier, the 7-year-old had already arranged his new school shoes, bag, books, stationery and school uniform in one corner of his house in preparation for the big day.
This morning, Zafreel – who is the only child of Mohd Hasrul Apandi Mansor, 44, and Nordarwina Ahmad Anwar, 35, from Kampung Kijing here – drank a glass of milk and ate two slices of bread before asking his father to send him to school at 7am.
When met at SK Marang today, he said he was unable to sleep well last night, as he was afraid of being late for school.
"I want to meet new friends, as my (kindergarten) teacher said we would make many more friends in primary school, compared to in kindergarten," he said.
Meanwhile, state assemblyman Bazlan Abdul Rahman brought cheer to pupils at Sekolah Kebangsaan Batu Rakit when he handed over 50 stationery parcels as a New Year gift.
According to the school's headmaster, Mat Nong Said, 85 Year One pupils will be undergoing a three-week “Year One Transition and Loving Teachers” programme at the school, starting today.
State Education Department director Shafruddin Ali Hussin said 20,631 Year One pupils were registered at 352 primary schools in the state.
A total of 9,599 children, meanwhile, were registered at 316 pre-schools in Terengganu today.
"And 19,759 Form One students were registered at 150 secondary schools state-wide," Shafruddin added.