The system of education in Malaysia is improving all the time; just recently it was announced by the Malaysian government that they were extending the percentage of their annual budget that is committed to educational spending in their country and as a result there are an increasing number of options for local and expatriate parents looking for the best schools for their children.

Aside from the range of state schools available at all levels there are an ever increasing number of international schools available in Malaysia - most of which are centred in Kuala Lumpur.  These offer the private teaching of a range of curricular from around the world with the British, Australian, American, German, French, Indonesian and Japanese curricular all well represented.

The literacy rate in Malaysia is around 88.7% and the government are actively trying to increase this rate with their increased spending and various other school and education focused initiatives.  In 2006 the government have extended their budgetary commitment to schools to one fifth of their overall budget and the launch of the 9th Malaysia Plan (or 9MP) which will lead the development of the nation through to 2010 focuses heavily on human development, training and lifelong learning.

These factors mean that an increasing number of expatriates living and working in Malaysia and committed to the country for a long time are enrolling their children into local state schools.  The Education Act 1996 covers primary and secondary education and the Ministry of Education is responsible for schooling at both of these levels.  Schooling is offered for free for the first eleven years in Malaysia but at the moment only the primary years are compulsory. 

Children start primary school at the age six and before this they can attend private optional pre-schools.  After six years of primary school around 85% of the population carry on through secondary school with a sharp drop off rate in the numbers who then go on to university or vocational college mainly caused by affordability issues. 

Expatriates with older children who have already started school or those who only intend remaining in Malaysia for a few years tend to favour one of the international schools for their children.  The curriculum studied, quality of teaching and fees charged differ greatly per institution and a great deal of research should be conducted by parents before committing to one given establishment.

It’s fair to say that the British national curriculum is best represented in Malaysia with around twenty two schools all covering the British curriculum.  America is next best represented and then there are a range of schools from those specialising in Islamic studies to those servicing the educational requirements of special needs students. 

As education in Malaysia improves and more focus is placed on the importance of achieving a decent level of training, so a growing number of families are putting their children through tertiary education and this is a growing market that has attracted universities from around the world to establish bases in Malaysia.  This means that expatriates with jobs in Malaysia who wish to remain long term can even put their children through the likes of the UK’s University of Nottingham or Australia’s SAE Institute or Swinburne University of Technology for example.