Education in Malaysia

                                                  Education in Malaysia. 

Education in Malaysia is overseen by two government ministries. The Ministry of Education (Kementerian Pelajaran) handles matters pertaining to pre-school, primary school, secondary school and post-secondary school. Matters regarding tertiary education are dealt with by the Ministry of Higher Education (Kementerian Pengajian Tinggi). Although education is the responsibility of the federal government, each state has an Education Department to coordinate educational matters in its territory. The main legislation governing education is the Education Act of 1996. 

Education may be obtained from the multilingual public school system, which provide free education for all Malaysians, or private schools, or through homeschooling. By law, primary education is compulsory. As in many Asia-Pacific countries such as the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Japan, standardised tests are a common feature. 
 

Malaysia is located in the tropics of Southeast Asia, straddling the South China Sea. Recent developments are putting Malaysia on the world map, as she focuses on becoming a knowledge-based economy. To develop world-class quality education and meet the demands and requirements of the new millennium, as well as to affirm the position of English as a second language, the Government has initiated major educational reforms by formulating new legislations on education. These were tabled in the Parliament from 1995 to1997, and covers all levels of education, from pre-school to higher tertiary education. Malaysia is indeed becoming a dynamic and exciting regional centre for education excellence. 
 

In Malaysia there are ten local public universities, one international university, six private universities and over 500 Public Higher Educational Institutions (PHEIs) providing undergraduate and postgraduate studies. PHEIs are non-government aided institutions that are fully funded by the private sector, and are open to all races in Malaysia as well as foreign students. PHEIs complement and supplement the government's efforts in education development.  

To ensure quality education and to safe-guard the interests of the students. all private educational institutions are required to register with the Ministry of Education. The private institutions are well guided by laws on the establishment, management and operation of private educational institutions. PHEls that are approved by the Minister of Education are constantly under the scrutiny of the National Accreditation Board (NAB) or Lembaga Akreditasi Negara (LAN), a statutory body responsible for governing the standard and qua1ity of higher education provided by the PHEIs. LAN is committed to uphold the highest academic standards, and plays a vital role in the establishment of minimum standards and accreditation of courses. 
 

The Systematic Education Group of Colleges operates eight Private Higher Educational Institutions. Established in 1977, Systematic's prime objective was to provide training to school leavers for their future career in Accounting, Business, Computing, Marketing, Management, Banking, Secretarial and Commerce and Industry. Malaysia is extremely conducive to study, and many Malaysian students have won prizes for outstanding academic results. With more than 23 years of experience, Systematic has produced a consistent flow of World and Malaysian prize-winners for the various professional courses, such as LCCI, ACCA, CIMA, ICSA, ABE and CIM. The catalyst for Systematic's success is the complete training system, that includes specially written materials including study packs, past year questions and answers, and test packs that are updated yearly. From its humble beginning in the 70's, Systematic Group of Colleges currently has about 10,000 students, with approximately 200-300 international students studying in the various Systematic City campuses in Malaysia. These students are from Indonesia, China, PakiStan, Maldives, India, Myanmar, Taiwan, Sri Lanka and even as far as Belgium. There is a host of specially organised activities, such as orientation programmes, festive and cultural events, and community projects, to assist international students to acclimatise. 
 

In Malaysia institutions of learning are committed to international students' welfare . There is a wide range of off-campus and on-campus accommodation to meet different students' budgets, and all living accommodation is modem and comfortable. Estimated living expenses range from USD 3,000 p.a. to USD 5,000 p.a. and vary from one state to another throughout Malaysia. The cost of living also varies depending on the students' style of living. 
 

                                                       History. 
 

Sekolah Pondok (literally, Hut school), Madrasah and other Islamic schools were the earliest forms of schooling available in Malaysia . Early works of Malay literature such as Hikayat Abdullah mention these schools indicating they pre-date the current secular model of education. 

Secular schools in Malaysia were largely an innovation of the British colonial government. Many of the earliest schools in Malaysia were founded in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Melaka, and Singapore. The oldest English-language school in Malaya is the Penang Free School, founded in 1816, followed by Malacca High School, and Anglo Chinese School, Klang. Many English-language schools are considered quite prestigious. 

British historian Richard O. Winstedt worked to improve the education of the Malays and was instrumental in establishing Sultan Idris Training College. The college was established with the purpose of producing Malay teachers. R J Wilkinson helped established the Malay College Kuala Kangsar in 1905 which aimed to educate the Malay elite. 

Initially, the British colonial government did not provide for any Malay-language secondary schools, forcing those who had studied in Malay during primary school to adjust to an English-language education. Many Malays failed to pursue additional education due to this issue.Despite complaints about this policy, the British Director of Education stated:“ It would be contrary to the considered policy of government to afford to a community, the great majority of whose members find congenial livelihood and independence in agricultural pursuits, more extended facilities for the learning of English which would be likely to have the effect of inducing them to abandon those pursuits. 
 

Malay representatives in the Federal Council as well as the Legislative Council of Singapore responded vehemently, with one calling the British policy "a policy that trains the Malay boy how not to get employment" by excluding the Malays from learning in the "bread-earning language of Malaya". He remarked:“ In the fewest possible words, the Malay boy is told 'You have been trained to remain at the bottom, and there you must always remain!' Why, I ask, waste so much money to attain this end when without any vernacular school, and without any special effort, the Malay boy could himself accomplish this feat. 

To remedy this problem, the British established the Malay College Kuala Kangsar. However, it was mainly intended as a way to educate low-level civil servants, and not as a means to opening the doors of commerce to the Malays — the school was never intended to prepare students for entrance to higher institutions of education. 

Missionaries of various Christian denominations, such as the Roman Catholic Josephian order and the Lasallian Brothers, Marist Brothers, Seventh-day Adventist, Anglican as well as Methodist also started a series of mission schools which provided primary and secondary education in the English language. Most of these were single-sex schools. Although nowadays they had fully assimilated into the Malay-medium national school system and most admit students regardless of gender and background (some single-sex schools remain), many of the schools still bear their original names today, such as the ones with the names of various saints or words such as “Catholic”, “Convent”, “Advent” and “Methodist”. 

During the British colonial period, large numbers of immigrants from China and India arrived in Malaya. The Chinese and Indian communities eventually established their vernacular schools with school curricula and teachers from China and India respectively. 

In the 1950s, there were four initial proposals for developing the national education system: the Barnes Report (favoured by the Malays), Ordinance Report (modification of the Barnes Report), the Fenn-Wu Report (favoured by the Chinese and Indians), and the Razak Report (a compromise between the two reports). The Barnes proposal was implemented through the 1952 Education Ordinance amidst Chinese protests. In 1956, the Razak Report was adopted by the Malayan government as the educational framework for independent Malaya. The Razak Report called for a national school system consists of Malay, English, Chinese and Tamil-medium schools at the primary level, and Malay and English-medium schools at the secondary schools, with a uniform national curriculum regardless of the medium of instruction. Malay-medium schools would be known as "national", while other languages schools would be known as "national-type". 

In the early years of independence, existing Chinese, Tamil and mission schools accepted government funding and were allowed to retain their medium of instructions on the condition that they adopt the national curriculum. Chinese secondary schools were given the options of accepting government funding and change into English national-type schools, or remain Chinese and private without government funding. Most of the schools accepted the change, although a few rejected the offer and came to be known as Chinese Independent High Schools. Shortly after the change, some of the national-type schools reestablished their Chinese independent high school branches. 

In the 1970s, in accordance to the national language policy, the government began to change English-medium primary and secondary national-type schools into Malay-medium national schools. The language change was made gradually starting from the first year in primary school, then the second year in the following year and so on. The change was completed by the end of 1982. 

In 1996, the Education Act of 1996 was passed to amend the Education Ordinance of 1956 and the Education Act of 1961. 

Issues in Malaysian education 

The history of Issues in Malaysian Education started from the British government, the Barnes Report back in 1951, that is to unite all races with the colonial language. The later Razak Report was made to replace the unsuccessful Barnes Report, and the system remains until today. 
 
 
 

Language 

The issue of language and schools is a key issue for many political groups in Malaysia. UMNO championed the cause of Malay usage in schools but private schools using the Chinese and Tamil language are allowed. Up until 1981 in Peninsular Malaysia (and some years later in Sarawak), there were also English-medium schools, set up by Christian missions. However, following the severe race riots in Kuala Lumpur in May 1969, English-medium schools were phased out from January 1970, so that by 1982 these became Malay-medium schools (‘national schools’). 

The existence of vernacular schools is used by non-Malays components of the ruling Barisan Nasional to indicate that their culture and identity have not been infringed upon by the Malay people. This is often a key issue as it is considered important by many. Dong Jiao Zhong (the association of Chinese vernacular school boards and teachers) and other such organizations still shape much of the views of the Chinese educated community, which is a key electoral constituency. 

In 2002, the government announced that from 2003 onwards, the teaching of Science and Mathematics would be done in English, in order to ensure that Malaysia will not be left behind in a world that was rapidly becoming globalised. This paved the way for the establishment of mixed-medium education. However, the policy was heavily criticized especially by Malay linguists and activists, fearing that the policy might erode the usage of Malay language in science and mathematics, which led to a massive rally in Kuala Lumpur on 7 March 2009. The government announced however this policy will be reversed in 2012, where the teaching of both subjects would be reverted back to Bahasa Melayu. 

Due to the lack of Chinese students attending government schools, coupled with the number of non-Chinese students attending Chinese vernacular schools, the government announced in April 2005 that all national schools will begin teaching Chinese and Tamil, not as a mother tongue course but as an elective course.