Preliminary-Blueprint-Eng

partners to improve the industry recognition for this education. For
instance, accounting students will receive partial accreditation with
the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) for the
professional ACCA qualification. There are currently more than 20,000
students enrolled in technical schools, representing less than 1% of
secondary school students.
religious education pathway
A wide spectrum of options is available for Islamic religious education
in Malaysia (Exhibit 7-6). There are currently more than 90,000
students enrolled in public religious schools, which accounts for 2%
of total primary and secondary enrolments. These schools may fall
under the jurisdiction of either the federal or state governments. All
public religious schools teach the national religious curriculum. Many
of these schools include formerly private schools that have voluntarily
converted to government-aided religious schools or Sekolah Agama
Bantuan Kerajaan (SABK). The process of conversion of schools will
continue on an ongoing basis.
EXHIBIT 7-6
Religious education options in Malaysia
Public 1
schools
Private
schools
Options
National religious schools
(SMKA)
Government-aided religions
schools (SABK) 3
State religious school
(SAN) 4
Sekolah Agama Rakyat
(SAR) – religious curriculum only
SAR – religious and academic
curriculum
Sekolah Agama Swasta
(SAS)
Registration
Federal
government
State
government
Government
financing
True In transition
towards
National
curriculum 2
1 Excludes options for religious instruction in national schools (SK, SRK and SMK)
2 Refers to national religious curriculum
3 Primary and secondary government-aided schools are former state religious schools and sekolah agama rakyat that agreed
to receive government assistance in return for converting to the government curriculum. Key difference from national religious
schools is that religious subjects in curriculum are taught in Arabic.
4 Includes both primary and secondary schools
SOURCE: Islamic Education Division, MOE
revisiting the 60:40 Science:Arts policy
Malaysia Education Blueprint 2013 - 2025
Chapter 7 System Structure
The 60:40 Science:Arts policy refers to the Ministry’s targets for
the ratio of students with significant science content to students
with a greater focus on the arts. It aims to have 60% of all upper
secondary students focusing on the sciences, and 40% enrolled in
the arts. To qualify as a science student, students in the academic
mainstream must take at least two pure science subject at SPM,
such as Chemistry, Physics, and Biology.
The policy was first introduced in 1967 by the Higher Education
Planning Committee in order to fulfill projected demand for
science graduates. The policy has been restated multiple times
since then—first in the 1999 National Education Policy, in the
2000 National Science and Technology Policy II, and in the 2001
Education Development Plan. Most recently, in 2012, the Ministry
of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) reiterated in its
2020 Human Capital Roadmap that meeting the target is now
more important than ever. MOSTI has set ambitious and urgent
2020 human capital targets that include increasing the number
of individuals with science-related training from 120,000 to 1.2
million. Out of the 1.2 million, 500,000 should have Science and
Engineering degrees (from 85,000 today).
The extent to which 60:40 targets have been reached has varied
over the years. Science stream enrolment reached a high of 37% in
1998 before dropping to a low of 29% in 2012. This may be due to
the perceived difficulty of science subjects.
In recognition of the growing economic importance of vocational
education, the Ministry will adjust its 60:40 policy to encourage
greater enrolment in the vocational pathway. The new target is
for 60% of upper secondary enrolment in the regular academic
pathway (either arts or science) with the balance 40% in the
vocational pathway. The 60:40 ratio will also be applied to the
academic pathway. That is, 60% of students in the academic
pathway should be focused on science (equivalent to 36% of total
upper secondary enrolment) and 40% on arts (equivalent to 24% of
total upper secondary enrolment).
7-8