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Education
and Literacy in Malaysia
Malaysia
has a diverse range of social services provided to Malays that are managed by
the Government, but it is not considered a welfare state. Education has
high priority in the government and it receives the second highest allotment of funds (next to
defense).
Free
compulsory education is available to children from ages 6 to 16, with the option
of attending another two years free. Bahasa Malaysia is the language used in the
classroom with English provided as a compulsory subject. Education is also
provided at the primary level with Chinese or Tamil as the medium of instruction
with Bahasa Malaysia and English as the compulsory subjects, but the children
who attend these schools have an additional year of schooling in "bridge
classes" that help them become more proficient in Bahasa Malaysia for the
next levels of education.
Secondary
education attendance rates were substantially lower than that of primary school
in 1995, 57 percent enrollment. Bahasa Malaysia is the medium of
instruction, with English as a compulsory second language.
There
are numerous institutions of higher learning, including about nine universities
(National University, Bangi; University of Technology, Johor Baharu; University
of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur).
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Ethnic
groups:
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Malay
50.4%, Chinese 23.7%, indigenous 11%, Indian 7.1%,
others 7.8% (2004 est.)
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Religions:
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Muslim
60.4%, Buddhist 19.2%, Christian 9.1%, Hindu 6.3%,
Confucianism, Taoism, other traditional Chinese
religions 2.6%, other or unknown 1.5%, none 0.8%
(2000 census)
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Languages:
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Bahasa
Malaysia (official), English, Chinese (Cantonese,
Mandarin, Hokkien, Hakka, Hainan, Foochow), Tamil,
Telugu, Malayalam, Panjabi, Thai
note:
in
East Malaysia there are several indigenous
languages; most widely spoken are Iban and Kadazan
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Literacy:
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definition:
age
15 and over can read and write
total
population: 88.7%
male: 92%
female:
85.4%
(2000 census)
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School
life expectancy (primary to tertiary education):
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total:
13
years
male: 12
years
female:
13
years (2007)
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Education
expenditures:
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4.5%
of GDP (2007)
country
comparison to the world:
90
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