OECD urges Malaysia to expand public university access, strengthen merit-based admissions

KUALA LUMPUR (July 28): Malaysia should expand access to public universities, place greater emphasis on academic merit in student selection and grant universities greater autonomy to improve education outcomes, the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) said. In its latest Economic Survey of Malaysia, the OECD said Malaysia needs to balance affirmative action objectives with the need to improve education quality and ensure fairer access to higher education. The OECD noted that bumiputera students accounted for 82% of enrolment at public universities, even after excluding Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM), which caters exclusively to bumiputera students and has about 190,000 students. While race-based quotas for university admissions were abolished in 2002, the OECD said the matriculation pathway into public universities continues to favour bumiputera applicants. "The more difficult path to university for the non-bumiputera population may be one factor contributing to brain drain," the OECD said. It recommended that Malaysia broaden access to public universities for all students and give greater weight to academic merit in admissions decisions to strengthen education outcomes. The OECD also called for greater autonomy for public universities, including in areas such as student selection, while ensuring stronger accountability mechanisms are in place. It said improving university governance and access would help Malaysia build a more competitive education system and support long-term economic development. Extend free preschool education to three- and four-year-olds Separately, the OECD proposed Malaysia extend free and compulsory preschool education to three- and four-year-olds as early education delivers long-term benefits for learning, child development and future productivity. Preschool education in Malaysia is currently compulsory from age five. The OECD said countries that introduced free and compulsory preschool education recorded significantly higher enrolment rates and better early childhood development outcomes. Citing a Unesco study, the OECD said average preschool enrolment in countries with free and compulsory education doubled from 41.4% in 1999 to 82.8% in 2018. In comparison, enrolment in countries without free and compulsory preschool education rose at a slower pace, from 52.9% to 63% during the same period. The OECD estimated that providing one free year of preschool education in Malaysia would cost around 0.2% of gross domestic product (GDP) while extending free preschool education to children aged three and four would require an additional 0.2% of GDP. It said such investment would generate strong returns compared with other levels of education, given the importance of early childhood development in improving learning outcomes. Although Malaysia's preschool education spending has doubled from 1% of the Education Ministry's expenditure (excluding tertiary education) in 2010 to around 2%, the OECD said it remains significantly lower than spending on primary and secondary education, which accounted for 50% and 47% respectively. The OECD said Malaysia should consider rebalancing education spending towards early childhood education while noting that fees paid by higher-income families could initially help ease the government's fiscal burden for children aged three and four.