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imbalances and the educational needs of children in B40 households such as the implementation
of 1Asrama and Asrama Desa (residential school) programmes, which reduced student dropout
from 47,260 in 2010 to 43,428 in 2013. In addition, as of 2014, over a million students benefited
from financial aid including Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pelajar Miskin financial assistance for
(KWAPM) and Rancangan Makanan Tambahan (supplementary food plan).
According to 11th Malaysia Plan (2016-2020) (EPU, 2016), appropriate facilities such as hostel,
transport and financial aid will continue to be provided to students in rural and remote areas to
enable them to complete primary and secondary education. Special attention will also be given
to address the needs of children from identified segment of disadvantaged groups, including
children fromMalay households in traditional villages, poor Indians from dislocated estates and
urban areas and Chinese from new villages. Special awareness programmes on the importance
of education will be conducted for school children and their parents to inspire a mind-set
change. In addition, after school hours facilities in schools will be provided to prevent students
from undesirable social activities and to allow them to interact in a safe and comfortable
environment, especially for B40 in urban areas.
3.2.3. Assessment of learning outcomes
In Malaysia, the Ministry of Education conducts annual assessments on the quality of private
preschool via the National Preschool Quality Standard. At each stage of the educational system,
there are centralized national examinations. After 6 years of primary education, students take
UPSR examinations (Primary School Achievement Test). All children who have completed
primary school are eligible to continue to three years of lower secondary education. At the end
of lower secondary education (Form 3), there is school based examination, the PT3 (the
Assessment Test for form three). After completing Form 4 and 5, students have to pass the SPM
examinations (the Malaysian Certificate of Education) in order to continue their studies in Form
6 or matriculation centers. At the end of two years of upper secondary, the students have to sit
for the STPM examinations (The Malaysian Higher School Certificate). On the other hand, the
matriculation program has its own examinations to meet the admission requirements to
universities. Data on national assessment (e.g. UPSR, SPM, STPM) are, however, not available to
researchers. Moreover, there are concerns about the reliability of the national assessment data
as a measure of competencies achieved. However, Malaysia does participate in TIMSS and PISA
which are more comprehensive because they assess student performance in multiple domains
and across various levels of learning difficulties.
3.2.4. Major Trends in Education Statistics
Malaysia has done well in bringing children from all races into school. Enrolment for preschool
increased from 81.7 percent in 2013 to 85.4 percent in 2016 (Figure 3.2.1). Primary school
enrolment increased from94.4 percent in 2013 to 97.2 percent in 2016 while the enrollment for
lower secondary schools increased from 93.5 percent in 2013 to 95 percent in 2016. The
transition rates from standard 6 to form 1, Form 3 to form 4, Form 5 to form 6 also increased
over the years. This rapid educational expansion has been supported by sustained public
expenditures on education - as a share of GDP, it has been increasing from 1995 to 2011 but it
has been decreasing slightly from 5.7 percent to 5 percent (Appendix Figure 1). Pro-poor
programs, particularly those targeting children from B40 income group also contributed to the
increase in enrolment. 26 The transition rate among Orang Asli students from primary to
26 According to the Malaysia Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) 2010 Report, over 90% of those within
lower secondary age and 75%within upper secondary school age and not in school are from the B40 households.