Education in Malaysia

Early works of Malay literature such as Hikayat Abdullah mention these schools indicating they pre-date the current secular model of education.

[8] Many Malays failed to pursue additional education due to this issue;[9] even Sultan Idris Shah I of Perak criticised the intended effect of this policy's design as such during the 1903 Conference of Rulers.

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?

In the early years following the 1957 Malaysian Independence Act, 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.

[17] During the British colonial period, missionaries of Christian denominations, such as the Roman Catholic religious orders – particularly the Lasallian Brothers and the Sisters of the Holy Infant Jesus – Seventh-day Adventists, Anglicans, and Methodists, established a series of "private missionary schools"[18] which provided primary and secondary education in the English language.

The report stated that "St John’s International School is now a private-funded education centre in collaboration with the La Salle Brothers Malaysia.

A few schools offer an additional year in senior middle, catering to students taking the government's Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM, equivalent to A-level).

[citation needed] Many of these parents also wish for their children to pursue an international education in the future, and entering an English-medium environment enables students to be prepared for that.

The program is strategically designed to strengthen bilingualism among students, ultimately preparing them for the challenges of an increasingly interconnected and competitive world.

[32] Despite its strategic goals, the Dual Language Program (DLP) in Malaysia has encountered several challenges and witnessed significant developments since its inception in 2016.

However, the test was removed from 2001 onwards due to concerns that parents and teachers were unduly pressuring students to pass the exam.

Before progressing to secondary education, Year 6 pupils used to sit for the Primary School Achievement Test (Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah, UPSR).

In 2021, the Ministry of Education cancelled the Primary School Achievement Test (Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah) for all Year 6 students.

Later, 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.

The division of public education at the primary level into National and National-type Schools has been criticised for allegedly creating racial polarisation at an early age.

[46] 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.

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."

Fee paying, English-medium schools owned and administered by missionaries/religious bodies were offered government aid provided that they adopted the national curriculum.

Having been introduced after the abolishment of a racial-quota-based admission into universities, the matriculation programme continues the role of its predecessor, albeit in modified form.

In October 2004, this requirement was removed and the Higher Education Ministry announced that industry professionals who added value to a course could apply for lecturing positions directly to universities even if they did not have postgraduate qualifications.

Previously, former Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohammad suggested to the government that the SARs should be closed down and integrated into the national schools.

The standpoint of UCSCAM is that only the implementation of a multilingual school policy befits Malaysia's multi-ethnic, multi-cultural, multi-linguistic and multi-religious society.

Present-day Malaysia introduced Western-style school uniforms (pakaian seragam sekolah) in the late 19th century during the British colonial era.

This decision by the Ministry of Education came after a deliberate study on issues like weather, floods, and convenience of parents, teachers, and students.

Among the many steps to be taken, it is part of the plan to increase compulsory schooling from six to 11 years, starting at the age of six years supported by targeted retention programmes, launch the Secondary School Standard Curriculum or Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Menengah (KSSM) and revised Primary School Standard Curriculum or Kurikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah (KSSR) in 2017 to embed a balanced set of knowledge and skills such as creative thinking, innovation, problem-solving and leadership, lay out clear learning standards so that students and parents understand the progress expected within each year of schooling, revamp the national examination and school-based assessments in stages, whereby by 2016 at least 40 per cent of questions in Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and 50 per cent in Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) are higher-order thinking questions and by the end of 2013, is to build academic and career counselling services into the secondary school timetable to help students make better informed choices about the various education pathways on offer.

[69] The history of issues in Malaysian education started since the British government period: the Barnes Report in 1951 to unite all races with the colonial language.

The existence of national-type 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.

In 2002, the government announced that from 2003 onwards, the teaching of Science and Mathematics would transition to English as the main medium, which was planned under a belief that Malaysia would not be left behind in a world that was rapidly globalising presumably using the language.

In 1973, the Malaysian government implemented an affirmative action program, setting a quota of 55% of university places for Bumiputeras and the remaining 45% for Chinese and Indian students.