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Education in Malaysia is overseen by two government ministries.

The Ministry of Education handles matters pertaining to preschool, primary school, secondary school and post-secondary school. The Ministry of Higher education handles matters regarding tertiary education. Although education is the responsibility of the federal government, each state has an Education Department to coordinate educational matters in its territory. The main legislation governing education is the Education Act of 1996.

Level/Grade Pre School Pre-school play group Kindergarten

Typical Age 3-4 4-6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17

Education may be obtained from the multilingual public school system, which provide free education for all Malaysians, or private schools, or through homeschooling. By law, primary education is compulsory. As in many Asia-Pacific countries such as the Republic of Korea, Singapore and Japan, standardized tests are a common feature.

Primary School Darjah 1 Darjah 2 Darjah 3 Darjah 4 Darjah 5 Darjah 6 Secondary School Tingkatan 1 Tingkatan 2 Tingkatan 3 Tingkatan 4 Tingkatan 5

Preschool education is mainly provided by private forprofit preschools, though some are run by the government or religious groups.
There is no fixed rules on when a child needs to start preschool education but majority would start when the child turns 5 years old. Schooling can begin earlier, from 3-6, in kindergarten. Preschool education usually lasts for 2 years, before they proceed to primary school at age 7. There is no formal preschool curriculum except a formal mandatory training and certification for principals and teachers before they may operate a preschool. The training covers lessons on child psychology, teaching methodologies, and other related curricula on childcare and development.

Some primary schools have attached preschool sections. Attendance in a preschool programme is not universal; while people living in urban areas are generally able to send their children to private kindergartens, few do in rural areas. Registered preschools are subjected to zoning regulations and must comply to other regulations such as health screening and fire hazard assessment. Many preschools are located in high density residential areas, where normal residential units compliant to regulations are converted into the schools.

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Children begin primary schooling at the age of seven for a period of six years. Primary schools are divided into two categories, the national primary school and the vernacular school.
Vernacular schools (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan) use either Chinese or Tamil as the medium of instruction, where as national primary school (Sekolah Kebangsaan) uses Bahasa Malaysia as the medium of instruction for subjects except English, Science and Mathematics. National-type schools are further divided into Chinese national-type schools (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Cina, SJK(C)) and Tamil national-type schools (Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil, SJK(T)).

By degree of government funding, national schools are government-operated, while national-type schools are mostly government-assisted, though some are governmentoperated. All schools admit students regardless of racial and language background. The medium of instruction is Malay for SK, mandarin and simplified Chinese characters writing for SJK(C), and Tamil for SJK(T). Malay and English are compulsory subjects in all schools. All schools use the same syllabus for non-language subjects regardless of the medium of instruction.

In January 2003, a mixed medium of instruction was introduced so that students would learn Science and Mathematics in English. Due to pressure from the Chinese community, SJK(C) teach Science and Mathematics in both English and Chinese. However, the government reversed the policy of teaching Science and Mathematics in English in July 2009, and previous languages of instruction will be reintroduced in stages from 2012.

Primary education consists of six years of education, referred to as Year 1 to Year 6 (also known as Standard 1 to Standard 6). Year 1 to Year 3 are classified as Level One (Tahap Satu) while Year 4 to Year 6 are considered as Level Two (Tahap Dua). Primary education begins at the age of 7 and ends at 12.

Before progressing to the secondary level of education, pupils in Year 6 are required to sit for the Primary School Assesment Test (Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah, UPSR). The subjects tested are Malay comprehension, written Malay, English, Science and Mathematics. Chinese comprehension and written Chinese are compulsory in SJK(C), while Tamil comprehension and written Tamil are compulsory in SJK(T). Between 1995 and 2000, the Seventh Malaysia Plan allocation for primary education development allocated 96.5% to national primary schools which had 75% of total enrollment. Chinese primary schools (21% enrollment) received 2.4% of the allocation while Tamil primary schools (3.6% enrollment) received 1% of the allocation.

Secondary education in Malaysia is conducted in secondary schools (Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan, SMK). Public secondary schools are regarded as extensions of the national schools. They study in five forms. Each form will take a year. Some students, however, will have to study in "Remove" before they can study in Form 1 because of the poor academic results, or simply choosing to do so, which is possible in some schools. At the end of Form 3, the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR, formerly known as Sijil Pelajaran Rendah (SRP) or Lower Certificate of Education (LCE)) or Lower Secondary Evaluation is taken by students. Based on choice, they will be streamed into either the Science stream or Arts stream. The Science stream is generally more desirable. Students are allowed to shift to the Arts stream from the Science stream, but rarely vice-versa.

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Co-curricular activities are compulsory at the secondary level, where all students must participate in at least 2 activities for most states, and 3 activities for the Sarawak region. There are many co-curricular activities offered at the secondary level, varying at each school and each student is judged based in these areas. Competitions and performances are regularly organized. Co-curricular activities are often categorized under the following: Uniformed Groups, Performing Arts, Clubs & Societies, Sports & Games. Student may also participate in more than 2 co-curricular activities.

At the end of Form 5, students are required to take the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) or Malaysian Certificate of Education examination, before graduating from secondary school. The SPM was based on the old British School Certificate examination before it became General Certificate of Education `O' Levels examination, which became the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary Education).

National secondary schools use Malay as the main language of instruction. The only exceptions are Mathematics and Science and languages other than Malay, however this was only implemented in 2003, prior to which all non-language subjects were taught in Malay.

Malaysian national secondary schools are sub-divided into several types:

National Secondary School (Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan), Religious Secondary School (Sekolah Menengah Agama), National-Type Secondary School (Sekolah Menengah Jenis Kebangsaan) (also referred to as Mission Schools), Technical Schools (Sekolah Menengah Teknik), Residentials Schools and MARA Junior Science College (Maktab Rendah Sains MARA).

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). However, unlike government schools, independent schools are autonomous. It takes six years to complete secondary education in Chinese independent schools. Students will sit 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 the PMR and SPM additionally

After the SPM, students from public secondary school would have a choice of either studying Form 6 or the matriculation (pre-university). If they are accepted to continue studying in Form 6, they will also take the Sijil tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (which is usually abbreviated as STPM) or Malaysian Higher School Certificate examination (its British equivalent is the general Certificate of education 'A' Levels examination or internationally, the Higher School Certificate. STPM is regulated by the malaysian Examination Council. Form 6 consists of two years of study which is known as Lower 6 (Tingkatan Enam Rendah) and Upper 6 (Tingkatan Enam Atas). Although it is generally taken by those desiring to attend public universities in Malaysia, it is internationally recognised and may also be used, though rarely required, to enter private local universities for undergraduate courses.

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Matriculation certificate is only valid for universities in Malaysia. This matriculation is a one or two-year programmerun by the Ministry of Education. Previously, it was a one-year programme, but beginning 2006, 30% of all matriculation students were offered twoyear programmes. Not all applicants for matriculation are admitted and the selection criteria are not publicly declared, which has led to speculation that any criteria existing may not be adhered to. A race-based quota is applied on the admission process, with 90% of the places being reserved for the Bumiputeras, and the other 10% for the non-Bumiputeras.

The matriculation programme adopts a semester basis examination (two semesters in a year) whilst STPM involves only one final examination, covering all two years' syllabus in one go. The scope and depth of syllabus in matriculation is also lesser to that of STPM.

The classification of tertiary education in Malaysia is organised upon the malaysian Qualifications Framework (MQF) which seeks to set up a unified system of post secondary qualifications offered on a national basis both in the vocational as well as higher educational sectors. In 2004, the government formed the Ministry of Higher Education to oversee tertiary education in Malaysia.

http://www.malaysia.gov.my/EN/Relevant%20Topics/ Education%20and%20Learning/Citizen/HigherEduca tion/ListofGovernmentUniversitiesInMalaysia/Pages/ ListOfUniversity.aspx

Postgraduate degrees such as the master of Business Administration (MBA) and the Doctor of Business Administration (DBA) are becoming popular and are offered by both the public universities and the private colleges. All public and most private universities in Malaysia offer Master of Science degrees either through coursework or research and Doctor of Philosophy degrees through research.

Besides the university degrees, students also have the option of continuing their education in professional courses such as the courses offered by the ICSA (Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators) etc. Polytechnics in Malaysia provide courses for diploma level (3 years) and certificate level (2 years). The following is a list of the public polytechnics in Malaysia.
Ungku Omar Polytechnic Politeknik Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Politeknik Sultan Abdul Halim Muadzam Shah Politeknik Kota Bharu Politeknik Kuching Sarawak Politeknik Kota Kinabalu Politeknik Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Politeknik Johor Bahru Politeknik Seberang Perai Politeknik Kota, Melaka

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The issue of language and schools is a key issue for many political groups in Malaysia. UMNO championed the cause of Malay usage in schools but private schools using the Chinese and Tamil language are allowed. In 2002, the government announced that from 2003 onwards, the teaching of Science and Mathematics would be done in English, in order to ensure that Malaysia will not be left behind in a world that was rapidly becoming globalised.

This paved the way for the establishment of mixed-medium education. However, the policy was heavily criticized especially by Malay linguists and activists, fearing that the policy might erode the usage of Malay language in science and mathematics. Due to the lack of Chinese students attending government schools, coupled with the number of non-Chinese students attending Chinese vernacular schools, the government announced in April 2005 that all national schools will begin teaching Chinese and Tamil, not as a mother tongue course but as an elective course.

In 2004 the UNDP (United Nations development programme) representative Dr. Richard Leete stated that Malaysia's ranking in the UNDP gender index was not "as high as it should be". Former Higher Education Minister Datuk Dr Shafie Salleh replied that it was not unique to Malaysia. His quoted statistics revealed that there was a 2:1 ratio of boys to girls in polytechnics and at public higher learning institutions. However it should be noted that in virtually all developed countries that both females and males enter university in approximately equal ratios, thus the 2:1 ratio in Malaysia is seen as rather peculiar when placed in a global context. Malaysian polytechnics and community colleges are not degree producing institutions and none have post-graduate programmes. Most are vocational or technical institutions. This imbalance is corrected once the respective genders leave the educational system.

Racial quotas, a highly politicised and controversial issue in Malaysia, exist for university admission. In 2002 the government announced a reduction of reliance on racial quotas, instead leaning more towards meritocracy. However, in 2004, 128 students who obtained 5As in the STPM (the best possible grade for university application) were denied their first choice of course which was medicine. This is part of an ongoing issue, where the only thing these students had in common was that they were non-Malay or non-Bumiputra. All students managed to successfully gain offers to private institutions but some did not pursue a medical education due to lack of funds and financial support.