Analyzing Neo-Liberal Policy Reforms in Malaysian Education

This essay provides an analysis of neo-liberal policy reforms in the Malaysian education system, highlighting key issues such as federalism, economic inequality, and linguistic diversity. It examines the historical context of education in Malaysia, including the implementation of federalism and the presence of various linguistic streams of schools. The essay explores the challenges of achieving cultural diversity and addressing economic disparities in the education system. It also discusses the government's investments in education and the need for decentralised federalism to promote competition and equal access. The analysis suggests that education policy in Malaysia should focus on mitigating inequality and facilitating competition and diversity, while considering the potential impact of these factors on inequality. The essay references relevant sources to support its arguments.

Running head: NEO-LIBERAL PPOLICY REFORMS IN MALAYSIS EDUCATION
NEO-LIBERAL PPOLICY REFORMS IN MALAYSIS EDUCATION
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1NEO-LIBERAL PPOLICY REFORMS IN MALAYSIS EDUCATION
Education has always played a key role in the national development and economic
growth of a country. It has been widely considered to be the best predictor of nation’s future.
However, very recently, the education system of Malaysia has come under intense debate and
public scrutiny due to the fact that the expectations of parents from the system have increased
and the employers in Malaysian context have voice their concern about the potential of the
Malaysian education system in preparing the young Malaysians for the future business
challenges of 21st century (Wong, 2012). It is also to note in this context that the federalism
of Malaysia is not only means for promoting diversity as a significant response to all its
mistakes or failures and it is more often felt in the education system of Malaysia.
In Malaya, the federalism was implemented in the year 1948 for preserving the
majoritarian agenda instead of just facilitating the differences. It was the selling point for the
union of Malaya with the Sarawak, Sabah and Singapore in Malaysia (Salleh & Hatta, 2018).
There are different linguistic streams of schools present in Malaysia and they include Malay
medium schools, the English medium schools, the Tamil medium schools and the Chinese
medium schools. This simply means that there is a presence of cultural diversity in this
country. However, economic inequality does prevail in this nation as well. There is a
disparity in the achievement and enrolment of students in Malaysian schools on the basis of
language and ethnic groups (Vaish, 2010). The children belonging from the Chinese ethnicity
are preferred more as compared to the Indians and the other natives. With the same, English
is much more preferred than Chinese, Malay and Tamil is the least preferred language. It is
also to note that the government of Malaysia have sustained higher levels of investment in the
field of education ever since the independence. The education system has been progressed
tremendously ever since then but still, it lacks in certain areas like the cultural diversity and
economic inequality and this clearly suggests that the centralised federalism in Malaysia has
been failed. However, as stated by Wong (2012), decentralised federalism can still work in

2NEO-LIBERAL PPOLICY REFORMS IN MALAYSIS EDUCATION
this country. If competition in between the different states prevails and if it is ensured that
there is equal access within the states, then the decentralised federalism can work. Several
centres should be put in place in order to keep a check on the regional imbalance prevailing
in Malaysian education system and they should support the weaker states at the same time.
Hence, from the above analysis it is likely to state that the education policy in
Malaysia should be dealt with a total of two significant issues and they are- a) mitigating
inequality present in the education system by means of ensuring that there is social upward
mobility and b) facilitating competition and diversity within the education. However, it
should also be noted that competition and diversity would not be sustainable if their final
outcome is persistent in inequality.

3NEO-LIBERAL PPOLICY REFORMS IN MALAYSIS EDUCATION
References:
Salleh, M., & Hatta, M. (2018). Best Practices of Promoting a Positive School Learning
Climate among Principals of Cluster Secondary Schools Towards Realization of
Education Blueprint 2013-2025 Malaysia. Advances In Social Sciences Research
Journal, 5(8). doi: 10.14738/assrj.58.2505
Vaish, V. (2010). Globalization of Language and Culture in Asia: The Impact of
Globalization Processes on Language (Advances in Sociolinguistics). Bloomsbury
Publishing Plc.
Wong, C. (2012). Education and Federalism in Malaysia. The Round Table, 107(1), 67-80.
doi: 10.1080/00358533.2018.1424075