TERTIARY EDUCATION

Tertiary education in the public universities is heavily subsidised by the government. Applicants to
public universities must have completed the Malaysia matriculation programme or have an STPM
grade. Excellence in these examinations does not guarantee a place in a public university.The
selection criteria are largely opaque as no strictly enforced defined guidelines exist.

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. The ministry is headed by Mustapa Mohamed.

Although the government announced a reduction of reliance of racial quotas in 2002, instead leaning
more towards meritocracy. Prior to 2004, all lecturers in public tertiary institutions were required to
have some post-graduate award as a requisite qualification. In October 2004, this requirement was
removed and the Higher Education Ministry announced that industry professionals who added value
to a course could apply for lecturing positions directly to universities even if they did not have
postgraduate qualifications. To head off possible allegations that the universities faced a shortage of
lecturers, Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Fu Ah Kiow said "This is not because we are
facing a shortage of lecturers, but because this move will add value to our courses and enhance the
name of our universities...Let's say Bill Gates and Steven Spielberg, both well known and
outstanding in their fields, want to be teaching professors. Of course, we would be more than happy
to take them in." He went on to offer architecture as an example whereby well-known architects
recognized for their talents did not have a masters degree.

The academic independence of public universities' faculty has been questioned. Critics like Bakri
Musa cite examples such as a scientist who was reprimanded by Deputy Prime Minister Najib Razak
for "publishing studies on air pollution", and a professor of mathematics at Universiti Kebangsaan
Malaysia who was reproved for criticising the government policy of teaching mathematics and
science in English at the primary and secondary levels. Students also have the choice of attending
private institutions of higher learning. Many of these institutions offer courses in cooperation with a
foreign institute or university. Some of them are branch campuses of these foreign institutions.
Many private colleges offer programmes whereby the student does part of his degree course here
and part of it in the other institution, this method is named "twinning". The nature of these programs
is somewhat diverse and ranges from the full "twinning" program where all credits and transcripts are
transferable and admission is automatic to programs where the local institution offers an "associate
degree" which is accepted at the discretion of the partnering university. In the latter case,
acceptance of transcripts and credits is at the discretion of the partner. Some foreign universities and
colleges have also set up branch campuses in Malaysia, including:

Monash University, Australia.

The University of Nottingham, United Kingdom
SAE Institute, Australia
Swinburne University of Technology, Australia
Curtin University of Technology, Australia
Raffles Design Institute, Singapore

The net outflow of academics from Malaysia led to a "brain gain" scheme by then (1995) Prime
Minister Datuk Seri Dr Mahathir Mohamed. The scheme set a target of attracting 5,000 talents
annually. In 2004, Science, Technology and Innovation Minister, Datuk Dr Jamaluddin Jarjis in a
parliamentary reply stated that the scheme attracted 94 scientists (24 Malaysians) in pharmacology,
medicine, semi-conductor technology and engineering from abroad between 1995 and 2000. At the
time of his reply, only one was remaining in Malaysia. Postgraduate Programmes 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.
Vocational Programmes and Polytechnics Schools 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 Port Dickson
Politeknik Kota Kinabalu
Politeknik Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah
Politeknik Johor Bahru
Politeknik Seberang Perai
Politeknik Kota, Melaka (Version)
Politeknik Kota, Kuala Terengganu
Politeknik Sultan Mizan Zainal Abidin
Politeknik Merlimau
Polytechnic Of Sultan Azlan Shah or Politeknik Sultan Azlan Shah
Politeknik Kulim
Politeknik Sultan Idris Shah
Politeknik Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin
Politeknik Muadzam Shah
Politeknik Mukah
Universities produce almost 150,000 skilled graduates annually.

TYPES OF SCHOOL

National Type/Charter Secondary/High Schools/Residential Schools or Sekolah Berasrama Penuh

(SBP) Within the national public school system are a few magnet type/charter public high schools.
Admissions are very selective, reserved for students who demonstrate outstanding academic
achievement and potential at the elementary level, Grade/Standard 1 through 6. These schools are
either full time day or boarding schools ('asrama penuh'). Examples of these schools is the Malacca
High School, Royal Military College (Malaysia) and Penang Free School. Residential schools or
Sekolah Berasrama Penuh are also known as Science Schools. These schools used to cater mainly
for Malays elites but has since expanded as schools for nurturing Malays who are outstanding
academically or those displaying talents in sports & leadership. The schools are modeled after
British Boarding School.