By Niza Wan Yahya
“Where has the time gone?” Parents often wonder as they reach yet another stage of their children’s life. One of the pleasurable (though poignant) stages a parent has to go through is to witness the growth of their little baby into a toddler (and for many, attending pre-school) and before you know it, he or she is already three years old. If you are a Malaysian, you have to start planning and registering him for primary school the very year your child turns four – which means you have to start considering your options and plans as early as when they are three! Under the Malaysian education system (under Ministry of Education), a child’s compulsory education begins when the child reaches the age of six as at the first day of January of the current school year.
What are your options? There are a few categories of primary schooling that you may consider for your child (forgive the many acronyms!).
Image may be NSFW.
Clik here to view.
1. Public / national primary schools
Most schools at this level are government or government-aided schools, with the final exam of Ujian Penilaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) and based on the national syllabus (Kurrikulum Standard Sekolah Rendah or KSSR). Tuition and text books are provided free. They are in turn broken into various categories:
a. Sekolah Kebangsaan (SK)
This is the most common schooling option and available in most cities and neighbourhoods. Medium of instruction is Malay, including Science and English (after a controversial u-turn a few years ago).
b. Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (SJK)
The multi-cultural needs of Malaysians has given rise to these vernacular schools, which are either in Chinese-medium (SJKC) or Tamil-medium (SJKT) schools.
c. Sekolah Rendah Agama (SRA)
SRA is a half-day schooling option for Muslim children, where kids attend religious classes (under state religious department JAIS) during the session where they are not in primary national school. For instance, if the child attends SK in the morning session, they would be able to attend SRA in the afternoon session. The syllabus is called Kurikulum Sekolah Rendah Agama (KSRA).
2. Private primary schools
This alternative education system is mushrooming fast around the country, particularly in the Klang Valley. The cited advantages include smaller classes, higher quality teaching and an improved schooling environment. The drawbacks are the high fees (starting from RM10-15k a year) limitation on secondary schooling options available for the children after UPSR, as private school students are not allowed to apply to boarding schools and Islamic religious secondary schools. Generally, the schools run from mornings from 8am to late afternoons at 3 or 4pm. In addition to KSSR, private schools also offer foreign syllabus such as those from Singapore and UK.
a. International schools
Schools such as ISKL, Sri KL and Garden International School are traditionally the schools we thought of when referring to “private” when going up. They are attended by mostly children of the expat community and wealthy locals who can afford the hefty fees.
b. Private local schools
There are many private local schools which are now garnering an increasing market share among the local community due to dissatisfaction over the national school system (which would require an even lengthier post).
c. Islamic schools
i. Sekolah Rendah Agama Integrasi (SRAI) – for Selangor students
SRAI is a viable option for Muslim parents who do not want to see their children being ferried through two school sessions a day. It combines both SK and SRA syllabus (under JAIS) in one integrated schooling system.
ii. Kelas Asas Fardhu Ain Integrasi (KAFAI)
This is a similar education system to SRAI, except that the syllabus is a combination of JAIS and JAKIM.
iii. Sekolah Rendah Islam Persendirian (SRI)
This is similar to private local schools, but with Islamic approach and holistic religious education.
As a parent, consider all the choices above based on the needs of your child and the whole family unit. Important factors to consider are distance, travelling time, environment, financial costs and any behaviourial / learning difficulties (if any). Placing your child’s needs at the forefront coupled with advanced planning will help to ensure the best primary schooling choice.