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Education
Most Malaysian children start schooling between the ages of three to six,
in kindergarten. Most kindergartens are run privately, but there are a few
government-operated kindergartens.
Children begin primary schooling at the age of seven for a period of six
years. There are two major types of government-operated or
government-assisted primary schools. They national secular schools (Sekolah
Jenis Kebangsaan) which use either Chinese or Tamil as the medium of
teaching. Before progressing to the secondary level of education, students
in Year 6 are required to sit for the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR),
or Primary School Assessment Examination. An exam called Penilaian Tahap
Satu (PTS), First Level Assessment, was used to measure the ability of
bright students, and to allow them to move from Year 3 to 5, skipping Year
4.[63] However, this exam was removed in 2001.
Secondary education in Malaysia are conducted in secondary schools (Sekolah
Menengah Kebangsaan) for five years. National secondary schools use Malay
as the main medium of instruction. The only exceptions are the Maths and
Science subjects as well as languages other than Malay. At the end of the
Secondary Year 3 or Form Three, students are required to sit for the
Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR), Lower Secondary Assessment. In the final
year of secondary education (Form 5), students will sit for Sijil
Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM), Malaysian Certificate of Education examination,
which is equivalent to the British Ordinary or 'O' Levels (now referred to
as GCSE). The oldest secondary school in Malaysia is Penang Free School.
Penang Free School is also the oldest school in South East Asia.
Malaysia national secondary schools are sub-divided into several types,
namely National Secondary School (Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan), Religious
Secondary School, National Secular Secondary School (Sekolah Menengah
Jenis Kebangsaan) which is also referred as Mission Schools, Technical
Schools (Sekolah Menengah Teknik), Residential Schools and Mara Junior
College.
Mathematics and Science subjects in government primary and secondary
schools such as biology, physics, and chemistry are taught in English. The
main goal for the switch in medium of teaching is to prevent students be
hindered by the language barrier during their tertiary education in fields
such as medicine and engineering.
There are also 60 Chinese Independent High Schools in Malaysia, where most
subjects are taught in Chinese. Chinese Independent High Schools are
monitored and standardised by the United Chinese School Committees'
Association of Malaysia (UCSCAM, more commonly referred to by its Chinese
name, Dong Zong 董总), however, unlike government schools, every independent
school is free to make its own decisions. Studying in independent schools
takes 6 years to complete, divided into Junior Level (3 years) and Senior
Level (3 years). Students will sit for a standardised test conducted by
UCSCAM, which is known as the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) in
Junior Middle 3 (equivalent to PMR) and Senior Middle 3 (equivalent to A
level). A number of independent schools conduct classes in Malay and
English in addition to Chinese, enabling the students to sit for the PMR
and SPM as well.
Students who wish to enter public universities must complete one and a
half more years of secondary schooling in Form Six and sit for the Sijil
Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), Malaysian Higher School Certificate;
equivalent to the British Advanced or 'A' levels.
As for tertiary education, there are public universities such as
University of Malaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia and Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia. In addition, five international reputable universities have set
up their branch campuses in Malaysia since 1998. A branch campus can be
seen as an ‘off-shore campus’ of the foreign university, which offers the
same courses and awards as the main campus. Both local and international
students can acquire these identical foreign qualifications in Malaysia
for a cheaper price. The foreign university branch campuses in Malaysia
are: Monash University Malaysia Campus, Curtin University of Technology
Sarawak Campus, Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus and
University of Nottingham Malaysia Campus.
Students also have the option of enrolling in private colleges after
secondary studies. Most colleges have educational links with overseas
universities especially in the United States, the United Kingdom and
Australia. Malaysian students abroad study mostly in the UK, United
States, Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Singapore and Japan.
In addition to the Malaysia National Curriculum, Malaysia has many
international schools. International schools offer students the
opportunity to study the curriculum of another country. These schools
mainly cater to the growing expatriate population in the country.
International schools include: the Australian International School,
Malaysia (Australian curriculum), The Alice Smith School (British
Curriculum), elc International school (British Curriculum), The Garden
International School (British Curriculum), Lodge International School
(British Curriculum), The International School of Kuala Lumpur
(International Baccalaureate and American Curriculum), The Japanese School
of Kuala Lumpur (Japanese Curriculum), The International School of Penang
(International Baccalaureate and British Curriculum), Lycée Français de
Kuala Lumpur (French Curriculum) amongst others.
resource : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malaysia |
