Malaysia

Education

Malaysia has more than 30 years of experience in international higher education. The well-structured higher education system offers a unique opportunity for students to pursue an international qualification at competitive rates. Malaysia houses more than 100 institutions – public and private as well as foreign branches of reputable universities from countries such as the US, UK, Australia and Ireland. Some of these universities offer either their own overseas branch campus or in partnership with Malaysian institutions. Most of these academic qualifications are designed to be flexible and affordable.

Malaysia's national primary and secondary education is sponsored by the government. Students generally finished at year 13 with a qualification called STPM. However, at year 11, students will be awarded a qualification called SPM.

Other than the national secondary education. Students will have the option to pursue private secondary or primary education such as the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC), General Certificate Education O-Level / A-Level (GCE) or International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme (IBDP).

With the completion of SPM, students will need to take a Pre-University programme (Pre-U) such as Foundation, A-Level, AUSMAT, IBDP or other qualified programmes before commencing Bachelor's degree. Most college diploma programmes in Malaysia do not require Pre-U to commence their education.

To get into local public universities, Malaysian will need to apply after the completion of STPM.

Population: 32,380,598

Country Facts:

  • Official language: Bahasa Melayu
  • Other most commonly spoken languages: English, Mandarin, Cantonese and Tamil.
  • Landmass: 329,847 km2
  • Rated 3rd most Peaceful country in Asia
  • Ranked 14th in World Most Multilingual Countries.

Economy

The leading industries in the service sector of Malaysia are financial services, tourism, and medical technology.  Palm oil, rubber, paddy, and coconut are primary agricultural products dominating the industry. Other major industries in the country are the electronics industry, construction, and automotive industries.

As the 26th largest export economy in the world. The top 5 export partners are Singapore taking 13.6%, China 12.6%, Japan 11.8%, United States 8.7% and Thailand 5.4% in 2012. The leading export goods are electrical and electronic products, liquefied natural gas, palm oil, petroleum, chemicals, and machinery.

Ranking 26th in world largest importing economy, The country's top 5 imports partners are China accounting for 15.1%, Singapore with 13.3%, Japan with 10.3%, the United States with 8.1%, and Thailand with 6.0%. Top Import products are electrical and electrical products, machinery, chemicals, petroleum, plastics, and vehicles.

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