1. History
Secular schools in Malaysia were largely an
innovation of the British colonial government. There were four initial
proposals for developing the national education system: the Barnes Report,
Razak's Report, Ordinan Report and the Fenn-Wu Report. The former proposal
was implemented through the 1952 Education Ordinance.
Many of the earliest schools in Malaysia were
started in the Straits Settlements of Penang, Melaka, and Singapore. The
oldest English school in Malaya is the Penang Free School, founded in
1816, followed by Malacca High School, and Anglo Chinese School, Klang.
Many of these schools still carry with them an air of prestige although
there is no formal difference between these schools and other schools.
British historian Richard O. Winstedt was
concerned with the education of the Malays and he was instrumental in
establishing Sultan Idris Training College. The college was established
with the purpose of producing Malay teachers. R J Wilkinson, Winstedt
predecessor on the other hand 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-medium secondary schools, forcing those who
had studied in Malay during primary school to adjust to an English-medium
secondary school. Many Malays opted to drop out instead. 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?"
Eventually, to remedy this problem, the
British established the Malay College Kuala Kangsar. However, it was
mainly intended as a way to educate future 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.
2. Characteristics
Education in Malaysia broadly consists of a set of stages which include:
* 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 for a child to only go
to school for six years of primary education.
Primary and secondary education in government schools are 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, criticized by some as creating
discrimination between students who are and who are not fluent in English.
This was later revoked and Malay, Chinese and Tamil will once again be the
languages of instruction for the sciences in 2012.
3. Stages
3.1 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 except a formal
mandatory training and certification for principals and teachers before
they may operate a pre-school. The training covers lessons on child
psychology, teaching methodologies, and other related curricula on
childcare and development.
Registered pre-schools are subjected to zoning regulations and must comply
to other regulations such as health screening and fire hazard assessment.
Many preschools are located in high density residential areas, where
normal residences compliant to regulations from the Welfare Ministry are
converted into the schools. Some private schools have pre-school sections.
Other pre-school programmes are run by religious groups.
3.2 Primary
There are two main types of public primary schools in Malaysia: national (Sekolah
Kebangsaan in Malay, abbreviated as SK) and national-type (Sekolah Jenis
Kebangsaan, abbreviated as SJK). National-type schools are further divided
into Chinese national-type schools (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina, SJK(C))
and Tamil national-type schools (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil, SJK(T)).
By degree of government funding, national schools are government-operated,
while national-type schools are mostly government-assisted, though some
are government-operated.
The medium of instruction is Malay for SK, Mandarin and simplified Chinese
characters writing for SJK(C), and Tamil for SJK(T). Malay and English are
compulsory subjects in all schools. All schools use the same syllabus for
non-language subjects regardless of the medium of instruction. In January
2003, a mixed medium of instruction was introduced so that students would
learn Science and Mathematics in English. Due to pressure from the Chinese
community, SJK(C) teach Science and Mathematics in both English and
Chinese. However, the government reversed the policy of teaching Science
and Mathematics in English in July 2009, and previous languages of
instruction will be reintroduced in stages from 2012.
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) 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 (poor curriculum induced).
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.
Chinese comprehension and written Chinese are compulsory in SJK(C), while
Tamil comprehension and written Tamil are compulsory in SJK(T).
The division of public education at the primary level into national and
national-type school has been criticised for allegedly creating racial
polarisation at an early age. In the 1970s, around half of all Chinese
parents sent their students to national schools; as of 2006, the same
figure stood at 6%. Lim Guan Eng of the opposition Democratic Action Party
stated that ""When I was growing up in Malaysia, going to national
schools, I never imagined that the country would become so polarized."
Non-Malays, Chinese in particular, avoid national schools due to said
schools being Malay-dominated and, especially in recent years, having an
overwhelmingly Muslim atmosphere.
3.3 Secondary
3.3.1 Public secondary schools
Public secondary schools are regarded as extensions of the national
schools. They study in five forms. Each form will take a year. Some
students, however, will have to study in "Remove" before they can study in
Form 1 because of the poor academic results, or simply choosing to do so,
which is possible in some 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 choice, 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.
Co-curricular activities are compulsory at the secondary level, where all
students must participate in at least 2 activities. There are many
co-curricular activities offered at the secondary level, varying at each
school and each student is judged based in these areas. Competitions and
performances are regularly organized. Co-curricular activities are often
categorized under the following: Uniformed Groups, Performing Arts, Clubs
& Societies, Sports & Games. Student may also participate in more than 2
co-curricular activities.
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.
Shortly after the release of the 2005 SPM results in March 2006, the
Education Ministry announced it was considering reforming the SPM system
due to what was perceived as over-emphasis on As. Local educators appeared
responsive to the suggestion, with one professor at the University of
Malaya deploring university students who could not write letters, debate,
or understand footnoting. He complained that "They don't understand what I
am saying. ... I cannot communicate with them." He claimed that "Before
1957 (the year of independence), school heroes were not those with 8As or
9As, they were the great debaters, those good in drama, in sport, and
those leading the Scouts and Girl Guides." A former Education
Director-General, Murad Mohd Noor, agreed, saying that "The rat race now
begins at Standard 6 with the UPSR, with the competition resulting in
parents forcing their children to attend private tuition." He also
expressed dismay at the prevalence of students taking 15 or 16 subjects
for the SPM, calling it "unnecessary".[7]
3.3.2 Chinese
independent high schools
After receiving primary education in national-type primary school, some
students from SJK(C) may choose to study in Chinese independent high
school. Students in Chinese independent high school study in three junior
middle levels and three senior middle levels, similar to the secondary
schools systems in mainland China and Taiwan, each level usually takes one
year. Like the students in public secondary school, students in Chinese
independent high school are streamed into several streams like Science
Stream or Art/Commerce Stream in the senior middle levels. However, some
school recently provided unique streams like Electrical Engineering
stream, Food and Beverage Studies or Arts design stream. The medium of
instruction in Chinese independent high schools is Mandarin, and uses
simplified Chinese characters in writing.
Students in Chinese independent high schools take standardized tests known
as the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) at the end of Junior Middle 3
and Senior Middle 3. UEC has been run by UCSCAM (United Chinese School
Committees Association of Malaysia, also known as Dong Jiao Zhong) since
1975. The UEC is available in three levels: Vocational Unified Exam (UEC-V),
UEC Junior Middle Level (UEC-JML/JUEC) and Senior Middle Level (UEC-SML/SUEC).
The syllabus and examinations for the UEC-V and UEC-JML are only available
in the Chinese language. The UEC-SML has questions for mathematics,
sciences (biology, chemistry and physics), bookkeeping, accounting and
commerce in both Chinese and English.
UEC-SML is recognised as the entrance qualification in many tertiary
educational institutions internationally like Singapore, Australia,
Taiwan, China and some European countries, as well as most private
colleges in Malaysia, but not by the government of Malaysia for entry into
public universities. As the government of Malaysia does not recognize the
UEC, some Chinese independent high schools provide instructions in the
public secondary school syllabus in addition to the independent school
syllabus, thus enabling the students to sit for PMR, SPM, or even STPM.
