Malaysia K12 education only have 11 years, comprising 6 years of primary education and 5 years of secondary education.
Malaysia decided to extend mandatory schooling from 6 to 11 years, by making secondary education compulsory as well.
Primary Education is 6 years (ages 7-12)Grades 1-6.
Secondary Lower Education is 3 years (ages 13-15) Grades 7-9 (Forms 1-3)
Secondary Upper Education is 2 years (ages 16-17) Grades 10-11 (Forms 4-5).
Academic year begins in January and ends in November. Education is conducted in Bahasa Melayu.
Removal of UPSR and PT3 represents a shift towards a more holistic education approach under the Education Ministry.
Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) certificate as a minimum qualification.
In accordance to Education Act 1996, education is only compulsory up to Year Six, parents who failed to send their children to school could face a fine of up to RM5,000 or six months’ jail.
Children aged 15 are able to work full time and permits light work for those as young as 13, as per Malaysia Children and Young Persons (Employment) Act 1966.
STPM, A-levels, Matriculation and Foundations are called pre-university. This is because Malaysia’s education system is until 11th grade. We need to finish 12 years of schooling to start degree. Foundations are uni-specific pre-u that lets you fast track your pre-u and get into specific degrees.
STPM – Malaysian system, 1.5 years, only in kolej / schools with form 6, cheap
A-levels – British system, 1.5 years, only in private unis, expensive (without scholarship)
Matriculation – 1 year / 2 year, priority slot for public uni, very hard to get into in the first place (if you’re non-bumi)
STPM and A-levels is basically equivalent worldwide, both are recognised, matriculation is more limited
Syllabus-wise, they’re both similar
SPM standard – this is the O-level equivalent, supposedly so.
International School / Private School –
Sekolah cluster/ bestari – upgraded version of SMK. The schools can maintain certain excellence and the school has extra stuff as niches that makes them different from normal SMK.
government schools have so many sub-variants.
MRSM – Maktab Rendah Sains MARA
SBP – Sekolah Berasrama Penuh (full boarding school)
SBP Premier, SBPI and SMAP are only open to Bumiputra. Non-bumi can only apply for SMS.
MRSM and SBP only accept straight A students from UPSR exam (forgot what it’s call nowadays). Then they have another opening after taking PMR (i think it’s called PT3 now, but not sure the new requirements)
only MRSM open for malay and bumiputera, MARA is an idea of Prime Minister no.2 to help malay and bumiputera family that is way below poverty line to get second opportunity to go out from poverty.
The honest truth is our government school can never be better than an International school overall.
Because you are paying 20K a student. That’s more resources than what a gov could pay / subsidise at a gov school.
Unfortunately, it is a universal truth that money buys access to better everything. education is not an exception to this
You send your child to international school to mingle with other rich kids children so when they grow up, they’ll benefit from having a network of prominent and rich people.
There’s nothing to be gained by sending your kid to government school anymore. This is really bad for the future of Malaysia.
Most modern countries have “pre-u” a part of high school, sometimes called grade 12 and able to enter university straight after.
Some people aren’t interested in getting into pre uni. Some people just want to get their high school diploma and start a business, work full time, help their parents, apprenticeships, etc. form 6 is the governments way to help out Malaysias to get cheap pre uni.
All in all, it’s not a bundle package cause it doesn’t need to be
Still better than an SMK in a backwater town filled with deviants and gangsters with no understanding of consent and boundaries. Physical harassment is rampant there and underpaid teachers don’t give a shit.
newer international schools (eg IGB, KDU)
older international schools (eg GIS, Alice Smith, ISKL)
I’m in international school where we take IGCSE