Education system in Malaysia

OVERVIEW Education in Malaysian is the responsibility of the government and is provided through government funded schools, private schools or independent schools. The education system encompasses five main types: Pre-school Primary Secondary Pre-university, and Tertiatry education Pre-school to secondary education is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education (MOE) while tertiary education is the responsibility of the Ministry of High Education (MOHE). Schools Year Qualification Pre school 1-2 Primary 1-6 UPSR Secondary Lower 1-3 PMR Upper 5-6 SPM Pre-University 1-2 STPM/A-Level/Diploma Higher Education 3-5 Bachelor/Masters/Doctorate Pre-School Education  Kindergartens accept enrolment of children between 4 – 6 years of age. Although pre-school education is not compulsory in the Malaysian education system, its provision by the private sectors is encouraged. At present the majority of national schools have pre-school classes, but enrolment into these classes is open to children of low income families. Primary Education Primary education is free and begins from Year 1 to 6. Enrolment is accepted from the age of 7 to 12. Bahasa Melayu and English language are compulsory subjects in the Malaysian education system. Public primary schools are divided into two types, National Schools and National-type Schools. They differ in their medium of instruction. Bahasa Melayu is used in the National Schools whereas Tamil or Mandarin is used in the National-type Schools. In the final year, a public examination (Ujian Peperiksaan Sekolah Rendah: UPSR) is conducted to assess the children’s performance. Secondary Education Secondary education is an extension of the primary school. Students are required to study for five years, from Forms 1 to 5. The first three years is referred to as Lower Secondary and the last two Upper Secondary. At the end of Form 3 students will sit for a public examination (Penilaian Menengah Rendah: PMR). Students will be categorized into Science or Arts streams based on their achievement in the PMR. Those who have not obtained satisfactory results may choose specialized vocational education in technical schools. At the end of Form 5 students will sit for the Malaysian Certificate of Education examination (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia: SPM) before completing secondary school education. The SPM is founded on the United Kingdom School Certificate examination long before it became the 'O' Level General Certificate of Education which later became the GCSE (General Certificate of Secondary School). Pre-University Education After SPM, students may choose to study in Form 6 or matriculation. Students who choose to do Form 6 will study for two years at the end of which they sit for the Higher School Certificate examination (Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia: STPM). Those who choose STPM generally intend to go for further studies at public universities. Additionally, students may apply to enroll in matriculation programmes which will take either one or two years. Some of them may opt to pursue pre-university education at private colleges. They may choose to do a diploma, A-levels, Canadian Matriculation Programme or other equivalent courses from other countries. Higher Education At the tertiary level, HEIs offer courses at the certificate, diploma, bachelor, master and doctorate levels. The period of study at each bachelor degree level is three years and is offered by both public and private sectors. The providers comprise two major groups: Public HEIs (funded by the government) such as public/local universities, polytechnics, community colleges and teacher training institutes. Private HEIs (private funding) such as private universities, university colleges, foreign university branch campuses and private colleges. http://jpt.mohe.gov.my/menupemasaran.php http://www.moe.gov.my/ TOTAL ENROLMENT OF INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS IN PUBLIC AND PRIVATE HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS YEAR 2009 – YEAR 2013 POSTGRADUATE PROGRAMMES BY Public Universities