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Malaysian children begin schooling from the age of 5 or 6 in kindergarten. Year One begins the year a child turns 7. There is an exam taken when leaving Primary school, called 'Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah', or UPSR (Primary School Assessment Examination) which is taken by all Year Six students before going into secondary schools. The purpose of this examination is to assess the quality of the primary education in Malaysia. 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. This exam has since been removed. Secondary education lasts five years. At the end of the third year or Form Three, students must sit for the 'Penilaian Menengah Rendah' (PMR; Lower Secondary Assessment), to guide them on what subjects to take in the next year. The combination of subjects available to Form 4 students vary from one school to another. In the last year (Form 5), students sit for 'Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia', or SPM (Malaysian Certificate of Education; equivalent to the British Ordinary or 'O' levels, now referred to as GCSEs). Some Chinese choose to study in Independent High School, where most subjects are taught in Chinese. Independent high school takes 6 years to complete. Instead of sitting for PMR or SPM, student will sit for UEC in Junior Middle 3 (Form 3) and Senior Middle 3 (Form 6). Some independent high schools teach in Malay and Chinese, so that the students can sit for PMR, SPM and UEC. Students wishing to enter university must complete 2 more years of secondary schooling. They must take up either the school based Form Six and sit for Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia', or STPM (Malaysia Higher Certificate of Education; equivalent to the British Advanced or 'A' levels), matriculation (1 year only), or other pre-university courses before they may apply for entry into local universities. Independent High School students can enter some of the universities using their UEC result. Students can opt to go to private colleges after secondary studies. Most colleges have education 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, Singapore, Japan, Canada and New Zealand. Until recently, all subjects except foreign languages (English, Mandarin and Tamil) were taught in Bahasa Melayu (Malay). The result was that while many Malaysian students were proficient with the Malay language, they later struggled with English based tertiary education, especially in overseas universities and colleges. Currently Mathematics and Science subjects such as Biology, Physics, Chemistry are taught in English. The reasoning was that students would no longer be hindered by the language barrier during their tertiary education in fields such as medicine and engineering. All other subjects are taught in Bahasa Melayu. In addition to the National Curriculum, Malaysia has
many international schools. International schools offer students the
opportunity to study the curriculum of another country. These schools
mainly cater for the growing expatriate population in the country.
International schools include -
Australian
International School, Malaysia (Australian
curriculum), The Alice Smith School (British curriculum), The
International
School of Kuala Lumpur (International Baccalaureate
and American curriculum), The Japanese School of Kuala Lumpur (Japanese
curriculum), Lycée Français de Kuala Lumpur (French curriculum) amongst
others. |