Malaysian Science and Technology Indicators 2004 Report 16
Chapter 3 Education in Science and Technology
Public sector education has always been the pillar of the education system in Malaysia. In recent years however, private colleges and universities have expanded rapidly to provide alternatives for students to pursue tertiary level education. As private education is commercial-driven, business and information technology are the most popular courses offered at these institutions. The lack of interest by private colleges to offer pure science and engineering courses is understandable, as it would cost more to construct science laboratories and equip them with scientific apparatus. Consequently, this poses a challenge for policymakers to ensure continuing emphasis on S&T subjects like natural sciences, engineering, medical and agricultural sciences.
This chapter examines student enrolment by field of study at pre-university and university levels, both at public and private institutions. Data were sourced from the Ministry of Higher Education, although some data are inconsistent in terms of their availability and comparison across degree levels. Where possible, the data are reclassified in accordance to OECD guidelines for the purpose of analysis.
3.1 Education in S&T at the Secondary School and Pre-University Level
Public sector education forms the backbone of the education system in Malaysia.
Children are required to attend schools at the age of seven until they complete the lower secondary exam known as Penilaian Menengah Rendah (Lower Secondary Assessment) or PMR. With exception of those required to attend Remove Classes (applicable to students attending national-type schools, i.e.
those with Chinese or Tamil language as medium of instruction), students typically complete PMR at the age of fifteen.
After the completion of PMR, students are streamed into arts and science at their own choice for the O-level equivalent Malaysian exams called Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).
This exam requires two years of classes, which most students sit at the age of seventeen.
Subsequently, students proceed to the A-level equivalent of Malaysian exams called Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM), where they typically remain with the stream that they took at SPM level. However, due to the fact that students are required to pass an exam before being allowed to proceed to the next one, the number of students enrolled for the three exams are expected to decrease in the order of PMR, SPM and STPM.
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Education in Science and Technology Chapter 3
In the case of SPM, out of the total 356,141 students who registered for SPM examinations in 2002, about 20-41% of the students took science subjects such as Physics, Biology, Chemistry and Advanced Mathematics (Figure 3.1). This is an increase in terms of percentages of the students registered for the science subjects in year 2000, which were between 17-33%. Advanced Mathematics was the most popular science subject, which saw an increase of 21% in the number of students
registered for the exam between 2000 and 2002.
In the case of STPM, the percentages of students registered for science subjects were even lower. Out of the total 42,560 students registered for the STPM examination in 2002, 1- 30% took science subjects, as compared to 1- 20% for 2000 (Figure 3.2). The most popular science subject among students was Chemistry, which saw an increased 49% in the number of registration between 2000 and 2002.
3.2 Tertiary Education in S&T
In the year 2002, the number of students enrolled in first degree courses in public tertiary institutions was 182,569 while those at private colleges totaled 67,044, giving a ratio of 73:27 between public and private institutions. This represents a 29% and 32% increase from the year 2000 for both types of institutions respectively.
52,001 students completed their first degree studies in 2002, representing an increase of 43%
from the year 2000. The big increase in the number of completion in first degree courses was attributed to the 367% of increase in the number of students completing their studies at private institutions in 2002 as compared to the year 2000.
For masters degree courses, enrolment was concentrated in the public tertiary institution, totaling 24,884 intakes (84.5%) as compared to private colleges with 4,580 intakes (15.5%). The
total number of students registered for masters degree courses in 2002 increased by 63.1% when compared to 2000. This pattern was repeated for graduation, with 5,655 (90.7%) students completing their courses at public institutions as compared to 580 (9.3%) at private colleges. These numbers represent an increase of 93% and 266%
from the year 2000, respectively.
In the case of doctoral programs, there was a sharp increase in the number of enrolment at private institutions, rising from 18 students in the year 2000 to 197 students in the year 2002 (10.9 times). To a lesser extent, the increase in enrolment at the public institutions was also high, rising from 2,701 to 3,856 students (1.4 times).
However, graduation at PhD level was dominated by public tertiary institutions, producing 486 PhD graduates as compared to 4 graduates for private institutions.
Malaysian Science and Technology Indicators 2004 Report
Malaysian Science and Technology Indicators 2004 Report 18
Chapter 3 Education in Science and Technology
3.2.1 Public Educational Institutions
In general, enrolment in science and technology-related courses at public tertiary institutions has increased from 1992 to 2002, registering an average growth rate of 14.7%
per annum, For the period of 2000 and 2002, there has been a growth of 38.5% in the enrolment in natural science courses and a growth of 36.3% in social science courses.
Enrolment in engineering and technology had an increase of 6,542 (or 21.4%) from 30,596 for the academic year 2001/2002 to 37,138 for 2001/2002 (Figure 3.3). However, enrolment in agricultural science experienced a drop of 3,793 students over the same period.
Enrolment in social science courses continued to enjoy the largest share in terms of the total number of students registered for first degree courses at the public institutions, which was 47.9% (Figure 3.4).
Enrolment in ‘other fields’, consisting of teacher training, education and other subjects has dropped from 21,375 in 2000 to
17,874 in 2002. Within natural science equivalent subjects, engineering and technology constitute the largest segment, representing 48.0% of the total registration, followed by IT and computer science (22.3%).