Sunday Star, Sunday June 3, 2007
Excellence in education

Since independence, the nation’s education system has gone through tremendous changes as it strives towards world-class standards. 

FIFTY years ago Malaysia obtained the freedom to build a future of its own when the then Federation of Malaya became independent of Britain on Aug 31, 1957. 

Malaysia had to develop a nation socially, politically and economically with the reorganisation of education being one of the major issues.  

As a former British colony, Malaysia’s education system originated from the British. After independence, the Malay language was chosen as the medium of instruction in all schools while English became the second language. 

Back in the old days: Mission schools, such as this, can be traced back to pre-independence. They were set up by Christian churches and were largely single-gender institutions.

Schools in which Malay was the medium of instruction became known as government schools while Chinese and Tamil-medium schools were known as vernacular schools.  

Another type of school that can be traced back to pre-independence are mission schools, which were set up by Christian (Brethren, Anglican, Methodist, and Catholic) churches.  

They were largely single-gender institutions while most government schools were of mixed gender.  

English medium schools were phased out from 1970 onwards, converted into Malay medium national schools. 

A common curriculum was developed – the KBSR (Kurikulum Baru Sekolah Rendah) and KBSM (Kurikulum Bersepadu Sekolah Menengah).  

This was initiated by Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad in 1974 when a Cabinet committee report named the “Mahathir Report” suggested an education system that would create a generation of people that was disciplined, patriotic and with a Malaysian identity. 

The KBSR emphasised the three R’s (reading, writing and arithmetic) while the KBSM saw the integration of Arts and Science subjects to provide holistic education and create balanced, well-rounded individuals. 

Secondary schools also saw other changes in the types of examinations that students had to take. Form Three students had to go through a few name-changes for the public examination they sat for – the Lower Certificate of Education (LCE) to the Sijil Rendah Pelajaran (SRP) and finally, in 1993, the Penilaian Menengah Rendah (PMR). 

The Malaysian Certificate of Education (MCE) for Form Five students is now called the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM). 

After Form Five, the High School Certificate was the exam that Form Six students had to clear. 

This was changed to Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan (STP), which is now known as Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM). 

The STPM was the popular option for school leavers in the 1980s but its popularity has diminished with the mushrooming of private colleges offering alternative pre-university options such as the A-Levels and foundation programmes. 

In 1996, the Penilaian Tahap Satu (PTS) was introduced, which enabled bright Year Three pupils to skip a year and go to Year Five. It was abolished in 2001. 

In 2003, another major change was introduced when it was decided that Science and Mathematics would be taught in English, starting with Year One, Form One and Form Six students. Other subjects would continue to be taught in Malay. 

In more recent times, the Education Ministry was revamped and split into two with the formation of the Higher Education Ministry in 2004 to oversee tertiary education in Malaysia. 

The first Higher Education Minister was Datuk Seri Dr Shafie Mohd Salleh who was later succeeded by Datuk Mustapa Mohamed last year. 

Education institutions had an important role to play with the emphasis on human capital development under the Ninth Malaysia Plan (2006-2010) while Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein launched the National Education Blueprint 2006-2010 this year. 

It is aimed at propelling the Malaysian education system towards world-class standards, including providing basic infrastructure to rural schools, and pushing the rest, especially an elite group, towards excellence. 

The Blueprint identifies six thrusts – nation-building, developing human capital, strengthening national schools, narrowing the education gap, improving the teaching profession and accelerating excellence at education institutions.  

Fifty years on, our education system and schools have gone through tremendous changes.

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