SID: 15674227

Comparative Education System of the England and

Malaysia

Word Count (3153)

Through, international comparisons, people can analyse the overall performance of a
country as to another country such as their productivity, GDP, economic, social,
technological, and legal and environmental progress (Afonso et.al, 2005). It gives an
opportunity to low progress country to develop more by comparing their overall
conditions to others. By comparing, their legal, economic and social term a country
can improve its policies and performance to develop more. The educational system
is one of the main factors for the growth and development of a country (Afonso et.al,
2005). Despite having particular aims and objectives, both nations has one important
similarity that is to serve the best for the citizens. It is with preference that people study the
policy transformations that occurred in the political, economy and education sector of the
respective countries.

The international comparison can also be considered in relation to globalisation.

Globalisation has a different positive impact on the educational system. It
encourages new tools and methods in this part such as providing the opportunity for
flexible learning, E-learning, and foreign training (Afonso et.al, 2005). The
educational comparison prioritizes international access to the schools from primary
to higher education levels, as PISA do, improving learning experiences which
prepare pupils for multinational roles of leadership. It also supports its international
repercussions, infuriating a wave of assessments and speculations about the success of a
country’s educational system, specifically when the bases of these success rest on
educational views that radically go against those in the hegemonic model supported by
the canons of the neoliberal ideology (Galloway, 2018).
The Program for the International Assessment of Pupils (PISA) is an OECD project
whose objective is to evaluate the training of students when they reach the end of
compulsory education at 15 years of age. The program has been conceived as a
resource to obtain abundant and detailed information that allows member countries
to adopt decisions and public policies necessary to improve educational levels
(Philips 2007).
The globalisation of education system breaks the limitations of time and space
(Beveridge, 2012). With the use of advanced information technologies, the new
system of education, learning and can be applied a broad range of asynchronous
activities which aid student and teacher in breaking limitations (Afonso et.al, 2005). It
also improves knowledge, intellectual resources and skills which are required for the

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developments of the country. The aim of this research is to conduct a comparative
analysis of England educational system in England with the educational system of
Malaysia. Education is a responsibility of the federal government of a country. The
education system of the country includes education starting from pre-primary
schooling to higher education at the university. As Galloway (2018) explained, “to
educate” means “to bring up and train the mind and way of thinking” and “education”
means “the act or process of educating”.
The term “special educational needs” is referred to those students who have
disabilities or problems in their learning which make it complex for those students to
learn as compared to children of their similar age. This paper will focus on this main
theme. England has implemented the “Code of Practice for SEN”. This code put the
responsibility on local education authorities towards students with SEN. The
authorities must decide with the head teachers a general policy of the school and
approached to meet “special educational needs” of students (Department for
Education and Skills, 2001). They must arrange appropriate employment and
funding setups and manage the work of the school. The authorities must together
with teachers, determine the general policy of school and method to provide for
students with SEN.
The Code describes, a graduated approach must be firmly founded within the
environment. Once the teachers or other professionals have recognised that a
student has “special educational needs”, the setting must mediate through “Early
Years Action” (Beveridge, 2012). If an intervention does not have any positive impact
on the progress of that child then the SEN coordinator will need to seek support and
advice from other agencies. England also implements an approach in which regular
contact with the parents of those children are conducted in the schools, it is the best
approach to inform the parents that their children are obtaining special educational
support since their children have SEN (Beveridge, 2012). It is the best approach
which motivates the parents so that they can contribute the understanding and
knowledge of their children and determine any issue they can have about their
children’s needs and also the support which is being prepared for them. On the other
hand, as compared to England, Malaysia is also trying to overcome the challenges of
students with SEN; there is always a space of improvement and advancement in
their educational system. “Article 28” of Malaysia’s “People with Disabilities Act

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2008” confirms that “special needs children” are to be provided with the necessary
provision to “facilitate their full and equal participation in education” (Chong, 2016).
The Malaysian government also has implemented the “Inclusive Education Program”
for a student with SEN (Grapragasem et.al, 2014). In Malaysia, special education is
still controlled in a strictly segregate way according to diagnosis a child receives an
education with lower cognitive and self-care capabilities to others rather than
mainstream learning. In 2013, the kinds of SEN have classified into the hearing,
visual, speech and physical and cognitive disabilities, problems in learning and the
combination of different disabilities. “Moving Forward (2011-2020)” is an aspiration
implemented by the “Malaysian Special Education Department” with the aim to
reduce the educational gap, enhancing comprehensiveness and coordination of
multi-agency within provision along with joining marketability and employability of
students with SEN (Smith, 2001). It shows improving from past formations and
transforming into new compasses with new concepts and approaches, towards a
better educational landscape and better opportunities for students with SEN. But
according to Chong, (2016) Malaysia has not yet progressed a far integration in
striving for a better educational opportunity for students with SEN. Inclusive
education must be motivated by strategic corporations between different agencies,
including communities and families, national and local NGOs (Chong, 2016),
international governments and organisations, and especially organisations of
persons with a special need, children and families with disability themselves.
The “National Curriculum in England” (2011), is a legal requirement for students in
schools which implement the content and areas of learning in all key stages, secure
the access to crucial learning area and provide for the improvement of
understanding, knowledge, and abilities essential for self-development of the
students and for being responsible and active citizens. Schools should reconsider
practices and policies in light of incidence and pattern of the SENs which are
identified (Department for Education and Skills, 2001).
The “National Curriculum Inclusion Statement” highlights the importance of giving
effective opportunities for learning for all students with SEN and recommends three
main principles for inclusion (Department for Education and Skills, 2001, p, 71):
 Set appropriate learning challenges
 Respond to the diverse needs of students

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  Overcome potential obstructions to education and also assessment for
the groups of students or individual.
According to the curriculum of England, educators must use the “National
Curriculum” programmes to teach understanding, knowledge and abilities with the
use of particular methods. For certain students, it will be essential to select work
from the earlier key phases so that they can be able to develop and demonstrate
achievement (Beveridge, 2012). This England Code implements a curriculum of
intervention and action aimed at helping students towards independent learning;
especially the processes schools can adapt to fulfil their responsibility to use the best
actions for students with SEN (Cline and Frederickson, 2009). On the other hand, in
Malaysia, the “Department of Social Welfare (1999)” declares that special education
must concentrate on “vocational, pre-vocational and labour training of teachers so
that pupils can achieve perfection in line with their limited skills” (Grapragasem et.al,
2014).
The Government continues its efforts to improve the quality of education for student
with SEN by integrating vocational skills like “reflexology” and “computer graphics”
into all curricula of special needs, improving equipment and infrastructure in special
learning schools, enhancing special learning service centre services, offering special
education training modules, providing “in-service training modules” with differentiated
proficiency levels from elementary to expert, and adapting curriculum and valuation
by student capability. Presently, there is limited access to international data
observing accomplishment variations between SEN learners and common
education peers in science, as governments have historically failed to track
and report SEN students’ success in content areas. The Government will
engage with agencies to support these exertions and develop the “workplace
transition programme” in order to support SEN graduates in the workplace.
It has been noticed that Malaysia experiences an acute shortage of skilled and
trained teachers and specialists of SEN (Blueprint, 2016). The Government of
Malaysia plans to train their teachers to manage students with SEN and to ensure
that these teachers are trained with the relevant skills and knowledge in the field.
In UK, requirement for SEN teachers is set to continue. The dedication to assist children
with SEN is an essential part of the UK government’s education strategy, and Government
aim to support the teaching career and support them to give the best quality and most

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engaged SEN teachers. The Government has made strategies to make SEN as a core
subject in teachers' education, in order to ensure that educators are fortified with
basic abilities and understanding the needs of pupils with SEN. The Education
Secretary Shares issue and has personally raised the issue with the chair of the
initial teacher training review. Furthermore, training programmes will be provided
to the teachers and head of school that are fascinated by specialising in SEN
teaching and development of curriculum. The curriculum for these educators will
comprise topics such as pedagogical methods, psychology and approaches to
teaching students with SEN (Blueprint, 2016).
In the UK and Malaysia, a common structure of the education system is almost the same. The

education system in the UK comprises three phases where every phase can be subdivided.

Similarly, the Malaysian education system can be categorised into four phases which also

later can be subdivided. However policy texts and policy-based studies have given positive

validations for education as important to successful practice, there remain particular issues in

conceptualizing the play-pedagogy link. Connecting play with educational performance and

performance agendas also raises questions regarding the regulation of play by dominant

policy discourses and practices. Beveridge, (2012) mentioned that teachers identified the

value of focusing on children’s approaches to education. He mentioned how interactions

could define a teacher’s pedagogy and curriculum planning. Teacher educators from

Malaysia and the UK engaged in a discussion regarding their professional exercise and learnt

about the personal, professional and traditional norms and beliefs that made the pedagogies of

practitioners. The value of articulating pedagogy as a source of making practice endorses the

notions of others with skills in this filed who stress the value of making pedagogies explicit in

teacher education and has implications for the exercise of student and teachers.

Education is a high priority for the Malaysian Government and current decades have

observed frequent reforms in education policy and the curriculum. In 2001, the Ministry of

Education Malaysia established an Education Development Plan for Malaysia 2001-2010

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followed by the Education Development Master Plan in 2006, made to perform as a direction

for applying education development under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) (Galloway,

2018). In Malaysia, the National Education System comprises pre-school education (for

children aged four to six years), primary education, secondary education and post-secondary

education. Primary education is essential and Malaysia is close to reaching its target for

Millennium Development Goal, to obtain universal primary education by 2020. Students take

the first of three sets of national assessments: the Primary School Achievement Test, Ujian

Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) after six years of primary schooling.

There are different similarities and differences between the education systems and learning

approaches in Malaysia and the UK (Cole, 2005). For instance, in Malaysia, unlike the UK,

examinations are an essential type of assessment in education programmes and subject

experience has main value. In education within the UK, there has been a move away from a

theoretical and towards a further logical approach to education. There are particular risks

related to both theory-based and practice-based methods. Thus, pedagogy is not simply the

teaching action, more so, it is regarding the link between teachings and learning and how

combined they support for development in knowledge and understanding by effective

practice.

The notion about curriculum is hardly new but the way people identify and theorize it has

changed over the years and there remains important dispute as to meaning. The definition of

curriculum presented is all the learning which is planned and assisted by the school, whether

it is performed in groups or individually, inside or outside the school. Similarly, curriculum

can be explained as a plan that defines a technique for instruction and learning or a

conceptual structure that explain a definite learning aims and expectations. The curriculum

defines what students must understand and be capable to do after they have exercises

instruction and before they are assessed (Galloway, 2018). It also supports teachers to prepare

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their coursework to make greater student learning. However, modifications in the world are

ensuing in modifications in curriculum design. The new curriculum that had been observed in

particular from the traditional curriculum. The new curriculum focused on depth

consideration and solve the issues more that cover the topics and phases on experience which

is been focused in the traditional curriculum (Beveridge, 2012). Similarly, the concentration

of the new curriculum is more on the results compare to the traditional curriculum that

concentrate on the activities. If teachers do not apply the state or district curriculum, their

students will not fare well on state or district measures of success.

It can be said that both the Malaysian and England educational system aims to
ensure that all students in all school attain their fullest potential. All school leaders,
teachers, parents, and the communities have to play an important role to ensure that
the students in their responses are going toward attaining their full potential
(Grapragasem et.al, 2014). The unique diversity and multi-ethnic culture of Malaysia
offers a competitive benefit to all. Pupils have an opportunity to learn English,
Chinese and other languages at their schools. Now, certain National schools offer an
opportunity of learning a third language like Arabic, Tamil, Chinese, Kadazan Dusun
and Iban (Chong, 2016).
Similarly, the multi-cultural heritage of England also offers the opportunity of learning
third languages. Globalisation is making new views about social and cultural
spaces and complicated and diverse images of people flows. This supports to
modifications in expressions of culture, identity, and belonging and therefore
the role of heritage today. Traditionally, French, German and Spanish is usually
studies in England as the third language. Now, the government of the UK is also
encouraging educators to expand the choice of languages teaching to include
Chinese, Urdu and Arabic. “Mandarin Chinese” is expected to be the 2nd most
popular overseas language recognised in the schools of the UK (Galloway, 2018)
globalisation. The National Curriculum (2013) made learning an additional language
in KS2 compulsory.

In Malaysia, small numbers of children with SEN are part of “inclusive programmes”.
On the other hand, England offered inclusive programmes for the majority of children
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with SEN. Schools of Malaysia do not have many capabilities to assess their SEN
inclusion programmes and thus the government do not recognise where they stand
and how to develop (Blueprint, 2016). In Malaysia, there is not much support
available for students with SEN like autism. On the other hand, England
implemented several approaches in order to improve their services for students with
SEN. The “SEN Code of Practice” implement different strategies to enable the
student to progress which must be should be recorded by the teacher within an
EHCP (Education, Health and Care Plan) which can be considered as the Toolkit of
SEN (Department for Education and Skills, 2001). When the child identified with
SEN, an appropriate intervention is provided by their class teachers which are an
additional part of their curriculum strategies. If the teacher found them unable to
overcome this challenge they can also contact outside specialists who can advise an
effective provision to prevent the more development of their significant needs.
In Malaysia, currently, there are not any work-placement programmes available in
their schools; teachers found many difficulties in dealing with the student with a
special need for education. Malaysia experiences a great shortage of skilled
teachers who are expert in finding special education needs of children (Blueprint,
2016). The government is trying to allocate sources to help the training of experts
and teachers for SEN children, and the dissemination and sharing of knowledge,
skills, experience and the best practices.
In England the “Special Educational Needs and Disability Act 2001” amends the
“Disability Discrimination Act 1995” to forbid all the schools to discriminate against
students with special need in their admissions setting, in their education and related
services offered by the school for its students and also prohibit to exclude them from
their schools. The Code of practice declares that all the practitioners must be
engaged in the development process of SEN policy and also they must be
completely about the process to identify, assess and support for a student with SEN.
Teachers and students in mainstream schooling lack empathy and understanding
towards students with SEN (Chong, 2016). The government of Malaysia also aims to
improve public awareness to enable proceed to a rights-based concept of disability.
This also aims to increase the awareness amongst service sources to allow for
better cooperation and more effective use of capitals.
From the above discussion, it can be concluded that international comparisons
provide an opportunity to analyse the overall performance of a country as compared
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to others. By comparison, a country can analyse the difference between their
educational, economic, social situation from other countries. The comparison can
boost their overall performance, as lower developing countries can determine
different strategies, approaches, policies of developed countries which they also
implement in their countries. Globalisation has a different positive impact on the
educational system. It encourages new tools and methods in the education system.
A better system of education is a key to the economic success of a country. The
above study compared the educational system of England and Malaysia for a
student who has special education need. It has been found that Malaysia is still
experiencing multiple challenges in dealing with students with SEN. There is a great
lack of expert teacher, clinical psychologists, speech therapists and audiologists and
other resources which can support these children in their learning difficulty. On the
other hand, England has implemented different Laws and approaches for the
provision of students with SEN. The “SEN Code of Practice” implemented many
approaches for teachers to support these students and also the Code prohibit for any
kind of discrimination with these students.

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