Education system Malaysia

Malaysia is made up of the peninsula part on the Asian continent, and Sabah and Sarawak, located
on the island of Borneo. It is also known as West Malaysia and East Malaysia.

There are 13 states and 3 federal territories, the capital city of Kuala Lumpur, Labuan and Putrajaya.
The States are Sabah, Serawak, Perlis, Kedah, Pulau Pinang, Perak, Selangor, Negeri Sembilan,
Melaka, Johor, Pahang, Terengganu and Kelantan. The country has 3 major population groups, i.e.
the Malaysians, the Chinese and the Indian. The national religion is Islam. Both primary and
secondary schools provide instruction in Malay, Chinese and Tamil.

Depending on the higher education institute, tertiary education is provided in English or Malay
languages.

Malaysia also aims to become a regional centre for education. This has shown dramatic increase in
the number of public higher-education institutions through the establishment of new polytechnics,
universities and university colleges. The private education sector is also increasing shown by the
number of private universities and other institutions.

The Ministry of Education overlooks primary, secondary in the country. The Ministry of Higher
Education was responsible for higher education during the period 2004-2013. That now has been
merged under the Ministry of Education.

Pre-school education is intended for children aged 4-6. Pre-school is not part of formal education
process. However, the government aims to see as many pupils as possible attend at least 1 year of
pre-school education. Primary education is now compulsory in Malaysia. The school year begins in
January and ends in November. The academic year starts in September.

A child enters primary school at the age of seven and lasts for 6 years. There are 3 kinds of primary
schools: National Schools, National Type Chinese Schools and National Type Tamil Schools. English is
a compulsory subject.

General secondary education then takes another 7 years and is divided into 2 stages: junior + senior
secondary and pre-university. Junior secondary education lasts 3 years, at the end of which pupils
take the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (junior secondary school test). National Type Chinese/Tamil
School pupils attend an additional year at a remove class before entering Malaysian medium junior
secondary school.

In the 2 years of senior secondary education pupils choose one of 12 subject clusters, all of which
include the core subjects Malay, English, mathematics, physics, history and geography. In addition to
these, there are a number of electives. The minimum number of subjects that can be taken is 8. At
the end of senior secondary school, pupils take the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) Open Certification
Examination (Malaysian Certificate of Education).

After MCE, students also had the choice to enter Metriculation (one or two year course) University
foundation course (one year) or STPM (a two year course.

Upon passing this they apply courses offered by Universities. Malaysia have Government
Universities, private universities or students also have the option of going overseas to further their
education to get degrees.
Programmes at universities and university colleges lead to bachelors degrees, masters degrees and
PhDs.

Polytechnics and community colleges both offer technical and professional programmes leading to a
Diploma or a Certificate. Upon completing the graduates can opt to go into the job market or to
further pursue their university degrees.

Bachelors programmes have a nominal duration of 3 to 4 years. The nominal duration for
programmes in medicine and dentistry is 5 years. they now use the semester system and have
exams and coursework.

A masters degree is awarded after 1 or 2 years of study following the completion of a bachelors
programme. There are 3 pathways to a masters degree: by conducting research, by completing
coursework, or a combination of these two.

A PhD (MQF level 8) requires at least 2 or 3 additional years of study in general, but can require as
many as 7 years for certain specialisations. In addition to degree programmes, some universities also
offer non-degree Diploma programmes. The entry requirement of these programmes is the Sijil
Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). The study duration of diploma programmes offered by public universities
is typically 3 years.