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$Unique_ID{COW02340}
$Pretitle{245}
$Title{Malaysia
Social Services, Mass Media and Communications}
$Subtitle{}
$Author{Embassy of Malaysia, Washington DC}
$Affiliation{Embassy of Malaysia, Washington DC}
$Subject{malaysia
services
education
television
radio
government
country
international
national
programmes}
$Date{1990}
$Log{Golf*0234001.scf
Table 5.*0234001.tab
Table 6.*0234002.tab
Table 7.*0234003.tab
Table 8.*0234004.tab
}
Country: Malaysia
Book: Malaysia in Brief
Author: Embassy of Malaysia, Washington DC
Affiliation: Embassy of Malaysia, Washington DC
Date: 1990
Social Services, Mass Media and Communications
[See Golf: Courtesy Embassy of Indonesia, Washington DC.]
SOCIAL SERVICES
The Government gives top priority to education and next to defence
receives the highest annual financial allocation. The average annual
allocation for education is 5.8% of the Gross National Product or 17.2% of the
national Budget. Federal Government development allocation for education and
training for the 1986-90 period is $55,582.78 million. According to the 1980
National Census, literacy rate was 75.0% and steadily improving.
EDUCATION STRUCTURE
Formal school education comprises six years or primary beginning at the
age of six, three years of lower secondary, two years of upper secondary and
two years of pre-university education. Tertiary education, provided by 30 odd
colleges, five polytechnics and seven universities, consists of courses
extending from two to six years. The basic degree course covers three to four
years for selected students with Higher School Certificate or advanced level
qualifications.
School education is free while tertiary education is provided at a
nominal fee. The medium of instruction is Bahasa Malaysia with English as a
compulsory subject. However, at the primary level education is also provided
with either Chinese or Tamil as the medium of instruction and Bahasa Malaysia
as well as English as compulsory subjects. Children from these schools spend
an additional year in "bridge classes" to enable them to acquire sufficient
proficiency in Bahasa Malaysia in order to effectively follow education at the
lower secondary and subsequent levels in Bahasa Malaysia.
The first three years of secondary education is comprehensive in nature.
The curriculum consists of core courses in academic subjects and optional
courses in vocational oriented subjects. At the end of the three years pupils
sit for the Lower Certificate of Education Examination which serves as a
selective criterion for entrance into upper secondary schools.
General education is provided in academic schools at the upper secondary
level where courses with an arts, science or technical orientation are
offered. About 7.0% of upper secondary pupils attend vocational schools which
provide technical and vocational courses. At the end of the two years pupils
from academic schools take the Malaysian Certificate of Education Examination
while pupils from vocational schools take the Malaysian Certificate of
Education (Vocational) examination. About 15.0% of secondary school graduates
are admitted for pre-university education which prepares them for the Higher
School Certificate Examination or special matriculation examination. The
participation for tertiary level education is about 5.0%.
Enrolment for the different levels of education in 1988 are as follows:
[See Table 5.: Enrolment for the different levels of education in 1988 are as
follows]
EDUCATIONAL MEDIA SERVICE
This service co-ordinates the work of Educational Television (ETV) and
the Schools Radio and Audio Visual Aids (AVA) Unit. Besides the printing and
distribution of A V A materials to schools and institutions, regular radio and
television programmes are broadcasted with the co-operation of the Ministry of
Information.
FURTHER AND ADULT EDUCATION
Further education classes are sponsored by the Ministry of Education
throughout the country for pupils who cannot continue their secondary
education in the normal secondary schools. There are a number of private
educational institutions providing general, vocational and technical
education. Correspondence schools are popular in the major urban areas.
HEALTH SERVICES
The rapid development of the medical, dental and other health services
has resulted in an extensive layout of facilities throughout the country as
part of the socio-economic development programmes.
Medical treatment is provided throughout the country by hospitals,
dispensaries and clinics using up-to-date techniques, drugs and equipment.
Mortality rates are steadily declining and every hospital in the country has
been renovated and expanded with better facilities and medical care.
The Health Services have been expanded throughout the nation and steps
have been taken to upgrade the services progressively. The number of doctors
increased from 3,858 in 1980 to 5,394 in 1986.
The Government dental services devotes 70% of its work to school
children and there are increasing numbers of dental clinics all over the
country. The number of dentists improved from 691 to 1,130 from 1980 to 1986.
Special public health programmes on a national scale for the eradication
or control of major public health problems such as malaria, dengue fever,
cholera, tuberculosis, leprosy, yaws and filariasis have been in effective
operation. Besides, there are programmes on nutrition, family health, school
health, environmental sanitation, industrial health, hygiene and water
flouridation.
There is also a National Pharmaceutical Control Laboratory to check on
the quality of drugs locally manufactured or imported.
To meet the increasing staff demand of the country's expanding health
services, training schools for nurses, midwives, hospital assistants, public
health radiographers, dispensers and inspectors, and laboratory technologists
have been established.
To meet the demand for doctors, three faculties of medicine have been
established at the University of Malaya, the National University and the
Science University of Malaysia. A faculty of Dentistry is now functioning at
the University of Malaya while a School of Pharmaceutical Sciences has been
established at the University Science of Malaysia.
WELFARE SERVICES
Social welfare is a joint responsibility of the Central and State
Governments. These services cover the care of children, reformatory services
for juvenile delinquents, handicapped persons, the aged, the chronically ill,
beggars and vagrants, the protection of women and girls. The services also
motivate and enlist the support of the people to participate in development
programmes for their own and the community's betterment. State Governments
are responsible for general welfare which includes general relief and other
related matters. In the States of Sabah and Sarawak, reformatory services
come under the jurisdiction of the Central Government. Other aspects of social
welfare in the various states are maintained by the State Governments. There
are about 50 welfare institutions which are solely maintained by the
Government.
Welfare services in Malaysia are supplemented by voluntary organisations
many of which receive grant-in-aid from the Government through the Ministry
of Welfare Services.
SOCIAL SECURITY
Social security measures in Malaysia take the form of an Employment
Injury Insurance Scheme and an Invalidity Pension Scheme. The Employment
Injury Insurance Scheme provides medical and cash benefits and is a vast
improvement on the Workmen's Compensation Ordinance qualitatively and
quantitatively. The Invalidity Pension Scheme provides protection to employees
against invalidity due to disease or injury from any cause. The aim is to
extend social security benefits eventually to the self-employed especially
farmers and fishermen.
Other supplementary Social Security measures which exist in the country
are the Employee