Comparison between United Kingdom and Malaysian Education

System
Education has various definitions and meanings. According to Cambridge Advanced
Leaners dictionary, education is the process of teaching or learning in a school or college or the
knowledge that you get from the school or college. Education is very important for a society to
make sure that the country is well developed and harmony. There are many books and journals
discuss about the purposes of education. According to Airil Haimi Adnan and Edwin Smith
(2001) there are seven main social functions of education. The social functions of education are
as follow:
1.
2.

Development; to ensure the development of society for the modern world

Political; to uphold the current political system and maintain the loyalty to it.

3.

Value function; education as a medium to promote a society norms and values.

4. Identity function; education as a medium to create a national Identity and harmony

society
5.

Stratification function; education as a medium to select the more able from the society as
a whole using a meritocratic principles.
6. Economic function; to produce a human capital that can stimulate the economic growth
and bring wealth to the nation.
7. Socialisation function; education act as a medium for the kids to socialise with each
other.
Both United Kingdom and Malaysias education policy are trying to address all the functions
of education above. All below is the comparison of the education system between United
Kingdom and Malaysia.
Structure of education system
The basic structure of education system in United Kingdom and Malaysia is almost
similar. Education system in United Kingdom consists of three stages where each stage can be
subdivided. Meanwhile, Malaysian education system can be divided into four stages which also
later can be subdivided.
Compulsory Education
United Kingdom education consists of pre-compulsory, compulsory and post compulsory
education. Pre-compulsory education can include playschool, kindergarten, nursery, pre-prep and
reception. Pre- compulsory stage is for kids at the age five years old and below. Class for Kids
who attend primary school at the age of four is called reception class.

Compulsory stage can be divided into two, primary and secondary school. Primary school
is for kids at the age of five to eleven years old. The national curriculum for primary school is
called key stage 1 (age five to seven years old) and key stage 2 (age seven to eleven years old) .
Before 2010, primary school students were required to take National Curriculum Assessment
(Sats) examination. However, in April 2009, National Union of teacher (NUT) voted to boycott
the Sats exam for primary school starting 2010 onwards. Even though some school still doing the
sats exam, the result were not handed to the government. According to Christine Blower, the
acting secretary of NUT, there is overwhelming evidence that Sats damage the education of
children, supported by evidence linking them to deterioration in children health.
Meanwhile, secondary school in United Kingdom can be divided into two key stages, key stage
3(age 11 to 14) and key stage 4 (age 14 to 16). At the end of key stage 4 (year 11) students are
required to take GCSE examination. Sats examination at the end of key stage 3 was abolished by
government in 2008. Teachers and parents praised the education secretary, Ed balls (now shadow
chancellor of exchequer) and describe the decision as the first sensible decisions that Mr Balls
had done. The decisions to abolish the examination also get a support from the members of
opposition party. Mr Balls described that Sats exam for key stage 3 is less relevant as parents and
teachers already have GCSE and A-level to measure the standard.
As United Kingdom reform the education system to be fewer exams oriented, so do the
Malaysian. Malaysian formal education starts at the age of four or five years old. This level is
called pre-school level and equivalent to reception class in United Kingdom. Pre-school is
considered to be a preparation for kid before they enter primary school.
Children in Malaysia are required to spend six years in primary school. Primary school in
Malaysia is for children at the age of seven to twelve years old. At the end of primary school,
pupils were required to take primary school assessment (UPSR). On June 2010, Minister of
education, Mr Muhyidin Yasin, announced government plan to abolish UPSR. However, a lot of
people including the government backbenchers opposed the idea. One of the parties in the
government coalition, Malaysian Chinese Association (MCA) did not agree with this plan but
suggested that the format of the UPSR might be change to create an education that is more
holistic. Finally on October 2010, Minister of education announced that the UPSR examination
will be retained but there will be a changes in the format of the exam as suggested by the
Malaysian Chinese Association.
Meanwhile, secondary school in Malaysia consists of two stages, lower form and upper form.
Lower form (form 1 to form 3) is for students at the age of 13 years old to 15 years old, while
upper form (form 4 to form 5) is for students at the age of 16 to 17 years old. There will be a

lower form examination at the end of form 3, and Malaysia Education Certificate (SPM)
examination at the end of form 5. However, the government decided to abolish the lower form
examination (PMR) on October 2010. The change in lower form examination and primary
assessment (UPSR) will take change starting from 2016. The decision to abolish any
examination in Malaysia gets a mixed reaction from the people. Some people against it simply
because they already used to the examination based system and claiming that the government
change the education system too often. In my opinion, the government decision to reform the
education system is correct because according to Airil Haimi and Edwin Smith, the examination
based system restricted the full potential for development in society where the students only
focus to success in examination and not the using the knowledge in real life.
For the post secondary education, there are a similarities and differences between United
Kingdom and Malaysia. After secondary school in United Kingdom, students will enter a six
form college to study As level and A level. The same system is practice in Malaysia where
students study in 6th form (lower and upper form) after SPM examination. However, In Malaysia,
there is another system which is called a Matriculation system that works differently from the
6th form system. Students will study in Matriculation College where the college use the
university style teaching system. Student that gets good result in SPM will study in one year
programs while other student will study in two years programs. One year programs allow student
to enter the university earlier those students who study in 6 th form and two years matriculation
program. However, students will face more difficulties because they are required to finish a lot of
syllabus in a short period of time.
Political Influenced
Based on the comparison above, there is huge evidence of political influences in
education system for both countries. Teacher Union in United Kingdom play an important role to
make sure that the government decision is the best for the children and the society. Teacher
Union in Malaysia should be more proactive and play an important role advising the government
in the issues of education. Malaysia government should hear the voice of the teacher and consult
with the teacher union before deciding a new policy in education. By doing that, the government
will come out with the decision that is good for everybody especially the children, teachers and
schools.
In the other hand, United Kingdom should give a huge priority to students in all level. In
Malaysia for example, most of the budget allocation for 2011 is spent for education. This
includes MYR 6.4 billion to upgrade schools and MYR 29.3 billion for strengthening and
training in education. The recent decision by the coalition government to increase the tuition fees
in university up to 9000 is going to burden the university students in England. According to the
Shadow business secretary, it was unfair to charge the student for the cost of their degree, and the
labour will oppose any decision to increase the tuition fees.

In conclusion, although both United Kingdom and Malaysia education system are not
perfect, both governments are trying to address all the functions of education in their policy. The
teachers can help the government to make decision regarding the education through the teacher
union. Cooperation between the government and teacher could produce a better education in the
future.