Education in Malaysia may be
obtained from government-sponsored schools, private schools, or
through homeschooling. The education system is highly
centralised, particularly for primary and secondary schools,
with state and local governments having little say in the
curriculum or other major aspects of education. Standardised
tests are a common feature, as in other Asian countries such as
Singapore and China, which attain to high number of school
dropouts.
Characteristics
Education in Malaysia broadly consists of a set of stages which
are:
Pre-school
Primary Education
Secondary Education
Tertiary Education
Postgraduate
Only Primary Education in Malaysia is mandated by law, hence it
is not a criminal offence to neglect the educational needs of a
child after six years of Primary Education.
Primary and secondary education in government schools is handled
by the Ministry of Education, but policies regarding tertiary
education are handled by the Ministry of Higher Education,
created in 2004.
Starting in 2003, the government introduced the use of English
as a medium of teaching in all science subjects, although this
creates a discrimination between students who are and who are
not fluent in English.
Pre-School
Attendance in a pre-school programme is not universal and
generally only affluent families can afford to send their
children to private, for profit pre-schools.
The government has no formal pre-school curriculum for pre-schoolers
except a formal mandatory training and certification to
principals and teachers before they can operate a pre-school.
The training covers lessons on child psychology, teaching
methodologies, and other related curriculum on childcare and
development.
Primary
Primary education consists of six years of education, referred
to as Year 1 to Year 6 (also known as Standard 1 to Standard 6).
Year 1 to Year 3 are classified as Level One (Tahap Satu in
Malay) while Year 4 to Year 6 are considered as Level Two (Tahap
Dua). Primary education begins at the age of 7 and ends at 12.
Students are promoted to the next year regardless of their
academic performance.
From 1996 until 2000, the Penilaian Tahap Satu (PTS) or the
Level One Evaluation was administered to Year 3 students.
Excellence in this test allowed students to skip Year 4 and
attend Year 5 instead. However, the test was removed from 2001
onwards due to concerns that parents and teachers were unduly
pressuring students to pass the exam.
At the end of primary education, students in national schools
are required to undergo a standardised test known as the Ujian
Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) or Primary School Evaluation
Test. The subjects tested are Malay comprehension, written
Malay, English, Science and Mathematics. Previously, Chinese and
Tamil comprehension along with written Chinese and Tamil are
optional subjects for Chinese and Tamil vernacular schools.
Secondary
Secondary Education consists of 5 years of schooling referred to
as Form 1 to Form 5.
Public secondary schools are regarded as extensions of the
national schools. At the end of Form 3, the Penilaian Menengah
Rendah (PMR, formerly known as Sijil Pelajaran Rendah (SRP) or
Lower Certificate of Education (LCE)) or Lower Secondary
Evaluation is taken by students. Based on results, they will be
streamed into either the Science stream or Arts stream. The
Science stream is generally more desirable. Students are allowed
to shift to the Arts stream from the Science stream, but rarely
vice-versa.
At the end of Form 5, students are required to take the Sijil
Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or Malaysian Certificate of Education
examination, before graduating from secondary school. The SPM
was based on the old British ‘School Certificate’ examination
before it became General Certificate of Education 'O' Levels
examination, which became the GCSE (General Certificate of
Secondary Education). As of 2006, students are given a GCE 'O'
Level grade for their English paper in addition to the normal
English SPM paper. (Previously, this was reported on result
slips as a separate result labelled 1119, which meant students
received two grades for their English papers.) This separate
grade is given based on the marks of the essay-writing component
of the English paper. The essay section of the English paper is
remarked under the supervision of officials from British 'O'
Levels examination . Although not part of their final
certificates, the 'O' Level grade is included on their results
slip.
Pre-University
After the SPM, students would have a choice of either studying
Form 6 or the matriculation (pre-university). If they are
accepted to continue studying in Form 6, they will also take the
Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia or Malaysian Higher School
Certificate examination (its British equivalent is the General
Certificate of Education 'A' Levels examination or
internationally, the Higher School Certificate). Form 6 consists
of two years of study which is known as Lower 6 (Tingkatan Enam
Rendah) and Upper 6 (Tingkatan Enam Atas). The STPM is not
nearly as difficult as the GCE A levels despite similar scope of
its syllabus. Although it is generally taken by those desiring
to attend public universities in Malaysia, it is internationally
recognised and may also be used, though rarely required, to
enter private local universities for undergraduate courses.
Tertiary
Tertiary education in the public universities is heavily
subsidised by the government. Applicants to public universities
must have completed the Malaysia matriculation programme or have
an STPM grade. Excellence in these examinations does not
guarantee a place in a public university.The selection criteria
are largely opaque as no strictly enforced defined guidelines
exist.
In 2004, the government formed the Ministry of Higher Education
to oversee tertiary education in Malaysia.
Although the government announced a reduction of reliance of
racial quotas in 2002, instead leaning more towards meritocracy.
However, in 2004, 128 non-Malay or non-Bumiputra students with
excellent results had their applications to study medicine at
public universities denied.
Some foreign universities and colleges have also set up branch
campuses in Malaysia, including:
Monash University, Australia.
The University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
SAE Institute, Australia
Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Curtin University of Technology, Australia
The net outflow of academics from Malaysia led to a "brain gain"
scheme by then (1995) Prime Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir
Mohamed. The scheme set a target of attracting 5,000 talents
annually. In 2004, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister,
Datuk Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis in a parliamentary reply stated that
the scheme attracted 94 scientists (24 Malaysians) in
pharmacology, medicine, semi-conductor technology and
engineering from abroad between 1995 and 2000. At the time of
his reply, only one was remaining in Malaysia.
Postgraduate Programmers
Postgraduate degrees such as the Master of Business
Administration (MBA) and the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA)
are becoming popular and are offered by both the public
universities and the private colleges.
All public and most private universities in Malaysia offer
Master of Science degrees either through coursework or research
and Doctor of Philosophy degrees through research.
Vocational Programmes and Polytechnics Schools
Besides the university degrees, students also have the option of
continuing their education in professional courses such as the
courses offered by the ICSA (Institute of Chartered Secretaries
and Administrators) etc. Polytechnics in Malaysia provide
courses for diploma level (3 years) and certificate level (2
years).
The following is a list of the public polytechnics in
Malaysia.
Ungku Omar Polytechnic
Politeknik Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah
Politeknik Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah
Politeknik Kota Bharu
Politeknik Kuching Sarawak
Politeknik Port Dickson
Politeknik Kota Kinabalu
Politeknik Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah
Politeknik Johor Bahru
Politeknik Seberang Perai
Politeknik Kota, Melaka (Version)
Politeknik Kota, Kuala Terengganu
Politeknik Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin
Politeknik Merlimau
Politeknik Sultan Azlan Shah
Politeknik Kulim
Politeknik Sultan Idris Shah
Politeknik Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin
Politeknik Muadzam Shah
Politeknik Mukah
Universities produce almost 150,000 skilled graduates annually.
