1.

0 INTRODUCTION

Malaysia education system has undergone a tremendous change in order to uphold the
education aspirations. Education itself is the institution which aims at socializing individuals so in
order to fit into the society as well as an opportunity to attain social mobility so that one may be
opened to career opportunities and social status that ensure the well-being of one and one’s
family (Lynch & Baker, 2005). As we move towards globalization era, it is crucial for the relevant
authorities in our country towards democratisation of education to reform the education so that it
can produce citizens who are knowledgeable, think critically and creatively, have leadership
qualities and able to compete with other developed countries in the world.

Democratization of education is defined as quality access and opportunity involves

allocation of massive financial material resources, development of policies designed to reduce
social and economic inequalities relevant curriculum and devising appropriate selection
procedures to higher level of educational opportunities (Kiyao, 1981). The idea that every person
should have access to affordable education isn’t new—Thomas Jefferson proclaimed it essential
to any democratic nation (Britt, 2013). Hence, the process of democratisation of education is very
familiar in Malaysia, as our country is widely known as a successful democratic country. Many
efforts had been taken by the relevant authorities in Malaysia to democratize the education in this
prosperous nation. Thus, this essay will further discuss regarding the efforts undertaken by the
relevant authorities in Malaysia towards democratisation of education.

2.0 The Government of Malaysia

2.1 The general idea

The government have come with a tremendous effort to ensure the equal needs of
education is given to everyone. C (2013) stated that the government is committed to democrasting
education and providing access and equity to education so that everyone can benefit from it.
Obviously, the government is committed in the emphasis on capacity building of human resource
to elevate the education in Malaysia, so as to transform the country from an average to a great
hub of education and to achieve a higher level as a developed country status. The government
itself has provided and giving free education for primary and secondary schools despite of building
adequate educational facilities. Furthermore, other crucial aids are also being provided such as
scholarship, free textbooks, and free hostel accommodation for boarding school. The idea from
Prime Minister with the 1Malaysia book voucher somewhat has help to reduce the cost of book
expenditures and benefited over 1.3 million students throughout the country and a clear evidence
as an effort that can be felt by Malaysian especially the students. The government is helping you
to achieve your dream by providing higher education loan, book vouchers, smart phone purchase
rebate and other, said Datuk Fatimah Abdullah as The Welfare, Women and Family Development
Minister. She also added that the government has always put the interest of the citizen first,
including the needs of our young people. Undoubtedly, our government has done a tremendous
job in putting the effort to democratize the education in our country.

2.2 Financial bidding in education

With the democratization of education, students with different attributes and abilities are
allowed to progress to higher levels of education. Thus, the education system has to meet the
diverse needs of these students so that their formal access to education could be translated into
real access to education for example in tertiary education. The literacy rate in Malaysia, which
stood at 93% in 2010, was among the highest when compared with other developing countries.
The number of students from diverse background and the opportunity to pursue higher education
increased dramatically as the government introduce the policies of widening the accessibility and
equity of elementary education. Similar to other countries, various funding strategies and policy
changes have been adopted by the Malaysian authorities to ensure that the higher education
sector operates smoothly and effectively (Melissa, 2016). Thus, Perbadanan Tabung Pendidikan
Tinggi Nasional (PTPTN) was introduced as the method of funding the higher institutions and
students as an education loan schemes. The government was urge to develop a solid financial
term as the students and higher institutions quantity increases year by year. Therefore, PTPTN
was established in 1997 that offered loans to students studying in higher institutions, however the
programmed or course entered must be accredited by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency
(MQA). Despite of the shortcomings, PTPTN schemes has managed to ease the burden of the
government in developing higher education in Malaysia financially.

2.3 Disparity between rural and urban areas

There has been a great disparity between urban and rural schools in Malaysia in terms of
supply of teachers as well as infrastructural and ICT facilities. This disparity has affected real
access to education as well as equality and quality of education among rural students and in the
process, has created an achievement gap. Besides that, rural students are given more opportunity
to progress to higher level of education as compared to the urban students. As early as the 1970s,
the Dropout Report released by the Ministry of Education had noted the debilitating effects of the
socioeconomic environment on the educational mobility of rural students (Murad, 1973). Thus,
rural students tend to rely greatly on intervention measures undertaken by schools to see through
their educational processes. Fortunately, these disparities had been taken seriously by the
Malaysian government. The associating of this disparity has become one of the main concerns of
the National Educational Development Blueprint (2006–2010) (Ministry of Education Malaysia,
2008). One of the consequences of the disparity between urban and rural schools in Malaysia is
performance in public examinations whereby urban students have consistently outperformed rural
students. In 2005, for instance, the passing rate of rural students in the PMR examination was
60.38 percent, while the passing rate of urban students was 67.3 percent (Pendidik, 2007). Even
though the performance of students in public examinations is influenced by many factors, some
of which are external factors such as parental support and socio-cultural environment, the school-
based factors like quality of teachers, facilities and other resources have certainly played a major
role in influencing their performance. In view of this, the government has established special
model schools to cater to potential rural students. This special model schools are fully residential
schools and they combine primary school students with secondary school students within the
same school premises under the same school administration. There are currently 12 special
model schools in the country attended by 1,117 primary school students and 10,598 secondary
school students (Ministry of Education Malaysia, 2008). Through this intervening measure, the
government aims to ensure the smooth transition to secondary. According to Tan (2012)
education among potential rural primary school students by providing them better school
environment and facilities so that they could perform well in public examinations and enhance
their educational mobility.

Many rural schools in Malaysia face serious shortage of teachers. This problem stems
mainly from the general lack of interest among teachers to serve in rural areas. New teachers
who are sent to rural areas will try to request for a transfer to urban areas once they have served
the minimum number of years as stipulated by the Ministry of Education. Indeed, poor basic
amenities and infrastructural facilities have discouraged many teachers to prolong their service in
rural areas (Nanyang, 2010). Consequently, many rural schools are deprived of experienced
teachers who could provide better educational inputs. This problem is particularly acute in remote
areas in the states of Sabah and Sarawak. To address this problem, the government has
increased special monetary incentives, built more teachers’ quarters and improved basic
amenities and infrastructural facilities in an attempt to lure more teachers to serve in remote areas
(KPM, 2006). As a long-term solution, the Ministry of Education has increased the intake of trainee
teachers from these two states (Nanyang, 2010).

Secondary schools in urban areas in Malaysia generally have far better infrastructural
facilities than those in rural areas. Rural schools, especially those locate in remote areas, do not
have basic amenities such as water, electricity and telephone lines (KPM, 2001). Official data
reveal that in 2006, 28 rural secondary schools had no electricity supply, 68 rural secondary
schools had no supply of clean water, 748 rural secondary schools had no computer labs, 25 rural
secondary schools had no science labs, 784 rural secondary schools conducted double session
classes (lack of classrooms to accommodate students in a single session) and 26 rural secondary
schools had to share premises with other schools (KPM, 2006). In the main, infrastructural
development of rural schools is often hampered by delay. Among reasons cited for this delay are
difficulty to transport building materials and escalation of building costs (KPM, 2001). The digital
divide between urban and rural schools in Malaysia has serious implications on the learning
processes of students. The Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006–2010), a five-year national development
plan launched in March 2006, has recognized the importance of ensuring that Malaysia moves
towards embracing the digital age by establishing a National e-Learning Consultative Committee
(NeLCC) to formulate and implement more coordinated and coherent public sector e-learning
initiatives (Malaysia, 2006). Given that e-learning has now become a core element of teaching
and learning in the Malaysian education system, the lack of ICT facilities in rural areas has
certainly disadvantaged rural students. The Ministry of Education has attempted to narrow this
digital divide by building more computer labs in rural schools. It has also supplied more computers
to rural schools as well as installed broad band Schoolnet to provide coverage to these schools.
More importantly, it is in the process of transforming rural schools into smart schools (schools
driven by the use of ICT) (KPM, 2006). The need to narrow the digital divide is made more urgent
given the transformation of the Malaysian economy from a production-based economy to a
knowledge-based economy (Institute of Strategic and International Studies, 2002). Thus, the
government needs more knowledge workers who are adept at using ICT to spur economic growth.
3.0 Shortcoming and recommendation

3.1 Shortcoming

Every coin has got two sides, and so does with the Malaysian democratization of
education. For instance, we can found the weakness in Malaysia education system as in the
public universities. In order to ensure the excellence in academic, more resources such as
financials and humans have to be developed and made available. Humans resources that need
to be attained are not a matter of quantity, but academicals quality. Back in 1999, when enrolment
in the public universities hit about 300,000, the total number of academics in the public universities
was only 10,920. Another 5,000 taught in the polytechnics and teachers training colleges. Out of
a total of 13,033 academics in public universities in 2000, only 21.6% were PhD holders, 72.1%
Master degree holders, while the rest were first degree holders (Loh, 2005). In other words, our
government need to create more academicals programme that can fulfil the needs of education
and to enhance quality and excellence in the education system.

4.2 Recommendation

From my point of view, it is crucial for Malaysia to propose more job opportunities in the
educational institutions as this effort will help to ensure that the democratization of education will
not lead to a drop in academic standards. Besides, more academics can sign up for this and help
the government to overcome the problem. As the appealing, a great amount of rewards should
come with these opportunities. As a develop country, we must consider the quality of the
academics as we are not the third world country where the population of scholars and academics
is low. Even though there are a lot of academics in Malaysia that can fulfil the needs, but still the
job opportunities given are scarce. Thus, a drastic move must be taken by the Malaysia by
providing a lot more job opportunities for academics in educational institutions and strive towards
creating a better education system.

5.0 Conclusion

The democratization of education in Malaysia has come a long way since the 1960s. The
government is committed to enhance quality of education amidst the democratization of education
and can be considered successful in its efforts. The improved professional qualifications of
teachers, the establishment of cluster schools and the ranking of tertiary level education are all
strong indications of this commitment. But the government will have to intensify its efforts to
overcome the shortcomings besides the one that had been mentioned above. Thus, by adopting
a more inclusive approach towards the provision of education, the Malaysian government will be
able to come out with new and effective measures to deal with some of the problems that stem
from the vertical dimension of the democratization of education. Basically, Malaysia is on its way
to create a good education system to all of its citizens.
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