Education in Malaysia
Education in Malaysia
Educational
oversight
Ministry of Education
Muhyiddin Yassin
National edu-
cation budget
RM5 billion1 (2006)
Primary lan-
guage(s)
Malay, English,
Mandarin Chinese,
Tamil
National sys-
tem
Established
1956
Literacy (2008)
• Men
• Women
91.5%
%
%
Enrollment
• Primary
• Secondary
• Post-
secondary
5,464,751
3,153,027
2,311,724
Attainment
• Secondary
diploma
• Post-second-
ary diploma
1"Budget 2006", Bernama
Education in Malaysia may be obtained
from government-sponsored schools, private
schools, or through homeschooling. The edu-
cation system is highly centralised, particu-
larly for primary and secondary schools, with
state and local governments having little say
in the curriculum or other major aspects of
education. As in other Asian countries such
as Singapore and China, standardised tests
are a common feature, contributing to the
high numbers of school dropouts.
History
Secular schools in Malaysia were largely an
innovation of the British colonial government.
There were four initial proposals for develop-
ing the national education system: the Barnes
Report, Razak’s Report, Ordinan Report and
the Fenn-Wu Report. The former proposal
The Malay College at Kuala Kangsar, Perak,
Malaysia.
was implemented through the 1952 Educa-
tion 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 produ-
cing Malay teachers. R J Wilkinson, Winstedt
predecessor on the other hand helped estab-
lished the Malay College Kuala Kangsar