1. Education System Before Independence (1400-1856)
Span across two (2) periods namely the British Colonial Period and During the British
Colonial Period.
Phase 1 – Before the British Colonial Period (1400-1786)
Education system exist since Malacca sultanate , with the spread of Islam in the 15th
century , education was more on Islam. Started at home to mosque, surau and
madrasah to pondok schools.

2. When Portuguese conquered Malacca in 15th
century, it changed to Roman Catholic
missionaries then to Protestant under the Dutch followed by the British Education
system in 1786 onwards.
Phase 2 – During the British Colonial Period (1786-1956)
British ruled Malaya for two decades, Japan make for 1942-1945 where all medium of
instruction turned Japanese.
Stage One – Before the Second World War (1786-1941)
i) Primary and Secondary Education

3. 1854, the Governor of Straits Settlements was directed by the East Indian Company to
prepare reports on status of education system, the report wanted:
- was the local dialect used as medium of instruction
- was the education system appropriately implemented by individuals or missionaries
The British policy of “divide and rule” to the three major groups had divided the
groups into different status.
The Malays were given six years basic training:
- provide basic arithmetic skills to start business
- promote awareness on importance of moral values like hygiene,
environmental. cleanliness
- proficiency of children of royal family in English language
The Indians given same basic education of same period; employed as laborer in
estates and railways; a policy detrimental to the economic and geographical mobility
The Chinese were given autonomy of setting own schools and design own curriculum,
employing teachers and used books from China.
The British held steadfast to the policy that it was not their responsibility to provide
education.
Malay Schools
Schools during the 1800
Gelugor Malay School, Penang 1826 Branches of Penang Free School
Bayan Lepas Malay School Branches of Penang Free School
Air Hitam Malay School Branches of Penang Free School
Teluk Belanga Malay School Singapore 1856
Kampung Gelam School Singapore
These schools give schooling until standard five using Malay Language as instructions;
but then no support from parents. A.M.Skinner (the Inspectorate of Schools) started
Quran recitations which lead to increase in numbers and by 1892 , 190 Malay schools
were seen. But Malayan were lazy.
British Colonial Government enforced Compulsory Education Act or pay fine and also
appealed to Malay leaders to encourage parents to send children to school.
1875 First Malay school in Klang District
1878 Sayong Malay School, Perak

4. 1889 First Malay Girls school built in Teluk Belanga and Penang
1940 increase in numbers of pupils registered in schools but British did not set-up
secondary schools as they wanted Malays to be farmers and fishermen plus they
were worried that highly educated people Malays would initiate anti-British feeling.
Chinese Schools
The founding and funding of Chinese schools was the responsibilities of Chinese
community; expenditures all borne by Chinese leaders and businessmen. The system
was total China plus dialects of Hakka, Cantonese and Hokkien thus causing non-
standardisation of Chinese system of education.
As 1911 Chinese Revolution took placed, Chinese government payed attention to
education abroad and made frequent visits and monitorings.
Chinese Education System
Type of school Schooling Duration
Primary school Six years
Lower Secondary school (Junior Middle Three) Three Years
Upper Secondary school (Senior Middle Three) Three Years
1913 – first Chinese secondary school in Malaya but in Singapore
1920 – abolition of different dialect and used Mandarin as it was more comprehensive
1920 – endorsement of Schools Registration Enactment where schools, teachers and
Chinese School Board registered with British Colonial Government
1924 – focused on and converted to semi-aided government school
1945 – review of syllabi in all Chinese schools to ensure new syllabi centered on local
context
1945 – introduction of English and Malay language in Chinese schools
Tamil Schools
Tamils were the biggest group of Indian immigrants to Malaya from South India to
worked in rubber, sugar, coconut and coffee plantations thus opening of Tamil schools
for their workers’ children.
1816 Tamil school in Penang
1850 Anglo-Tamil school in Melaka (10 years only)
1859 St Xavier Malabar school in Singapore
Indians were not responsive to schools; schools were inadequately equipped; poor
organization of curriculum, administration and the like. Majority doesn’ t like

5. schooling, satisfied with being labourer.
1912 Enforcement of Labour Laws. All owner had to set-up school If children number
exceed 10
1914 Setting-up of Tamil schools in urban district e.g. Vivikenanda Tamil schools in
Kuala Lumpur financed by Indian associations
1930 Setting-up of Tamil Schools Inspectorate and running teacher training course to
overcome Tamil trained teachers
1930 Introduction of Malayan syllabus using Tamil, Malayalam and Telegu
Tamil schools also had no secondary schools because Indian parents could not afford
to sent children but those with more money would send children to English schools
As each run on its own tongue thus they are called vernacular schools.
English schools
English schools were known as mission schools. Founded and managed by Christians
of Anglicans, Roman Catholics and Methodist. Most found in Straits Settlements and
Malay Federated states.
English Schools
Penang Free Schools 1816
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The school was founded by Rev. Sparke Hutchings on October 21, 1816, on the island of Penang, Malaysia. Its first headmaste
1816-1821. Its original premises on Farquhar Street first housed the Hutchings School, but is now the Penang State Museum.
current location on Jalan Masjid Negeri (also known as Green Lane). The school hosted the very first communist cell ever to p
Several of the schoolmasters were socialist in outlook and encouraged the formation of the cell which went on to produce a c
went on to make their careers in China. The communist cell was suppressed in the late 1930s. The school received cluster sch
Ministry of Education in 2007.
Malacca Free Schools 1826
On December 7, 1826, Malacca High School (MHS) was officially established; just after Malacca was made an English colony o
Dutch ceded Malacca to the English after the Bencoolen Treaty in 1824. Malacca High School is the oldest government English
The establishment of the school was initiated by Mr. Thomas H. Moor who came to Malacca in 1825 on orders by Milne who
Anglo Chinese College. In his letter dated 4th. January 1825, he stated his wishes to Arundel in London to establish a school. T
was also supported by some influential people including James Humphrey, a Superintendent in the London Society’ s Mission
School was directly related to the closing of the Dutch-Malay school which was established in January 1819 by Christian missi
school was closed when Malacca was handed over to the English by the Dutch.
Singapore Free School 1834

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Known for his excellent administrative acumen, Raffles opened the first school, the Singapore Free School, in 1823, with its go
commercial houses of Singapore. The liberal Raffles wanted the school to admit students from the different ethnic communit
opening of the Free School was, however, delayed until 1834, because Raffles was recalled to England. When it opened, the s
providing education to everyone, without regard to religion or ethnic origins. However, the Chinese community stayed away
their children in the Chinese-language schools funded and managed by Chinese philanthropists. Such schools were patterned
China, where the curriculum included the writing of Chinese characters, the use of the abacus in mathematics, and the study
the Singapore Free School was renamed the Singapore Institution Free School. In the year following its takeover by the Colon
the Raffles Institution.
Read more: Singapore - History Background - Education, Chinese, Malay, Free, Port, and Government
Other English schools
Bukit Bintang Girls Schools and St Mary (by Anglican missionaries)
Anglo-Tamil School (1897) in Kuala Lumpur changed to Methodist Boys School
Anglo-Chinese School (by Methodist missionaries) in Ipoh , Kampar, Teluk Intan,
Sitiawan, Klang and Seremban.
Convent schools for girls and “St.” schools for boys were founded by Roma Catholic
missionaries e.g. St John Institution Kuala Lumpur, St Michael Institution in Ipoh, St
Xavier Institution in Penang, St Paul Institution in Melaka, and etc.
Characteristics of English School
- located in town area with sparce Malay
- compulsory for non-Muslim to study Religious Knowledge
- use English language as medium of instruction
- received financial aid and assistance from British Colonial government
Teachers Training
Problem before World War Two
- low wages forcing many teachers to resign
- only small number of ladies teachers interested
- lacked of trained teachers in Malay schools
Why, because the British brought teachers from England to be teachers in Malaya. To

8. overcome shortage and training, the British set-up Teacher Training Colleges in:
- 1878 Singapore Teluk Belanga Teacher Training College
- 1878 Perak Taiping Teacher Training College
- 1900 Melaka TTC
- 1913 Perak Matang TTC
- 1922 Perak SITC
- 1928 Singapore Raffles College
- 1935 Melaka Malay Girls TTC (only for females)
Due to lacking of writing and reading materials Translation Bureau at SITC (1942) was
set-up.
Vocational and Technical Education
1900 Malay handicraft of weaving, embroidery and carving were introduced
1905 Teacher Technical College to train technical assistants in Public Works
Department and Malayan Railway
1918 Formation of Technical and Industrial Education Committee
1923 Setting-up of Agricultural Training Center
1926 Technical school established and later changed to Technical Teachers Training
College (1941) and UTM (1972)
1931 Agricultural School in Serdang to train officers
1946 Agricultural School elevated to Universiti Pertanian Malaysia (1972) then to
University Putra Malaysia
Tertiary Education
1905 Establishment of King Edward VII Medical school in Singapore later become King
Edward VII Medical College
1929 Establishment of Raffles College
1938 Merging of King Edward Medical college and Raffles college to be University
1941 University Malaya of Singapore established
Education System in Sabah
Similar to Malaya, the Christian Missionaries play big part in developing the education
system; Malays with the reciting of Quran and Jawi scripts and the ethnics education
traditional descendants.
With North Borneo Smelting company plus the Roman Catholic missionaries , schools
were built in Papar (1881) and Sandakan (St Mary Primary (1883); St Michael (1883)
and Covent Girl school (1891). Language used English, Chinese and Dusun.

9. By 1930, 49 mission schools were built and in 1941 number totaled 52. First
government aided school was established in Kota Belud (1920). And Malay language
was used; 1930 number totaled to 21 plus another seven by 1941.
In Jesselton, a Chinese national type was established and goes to 79 private schools; in
Tawau, Ladang Getah (Japanese school) was established.
Education System In Sarawak
Ruled by Brook family, people of Sarawak mostly Iban, Kelabit and Melanau were only
given vocational education such as farming, hunting, handicraft and the like. The
Malays were given religious education.
Education in Sarawak were established by Christian missionaries, Brooke government
and Chinese community. 1938 Roman Catholics run schools in Kuching and Kanowit;
Anglican missionaries in Sibu and Kuching and used English.
1917 Melanau school was built
1924 Brooke set-up Education Department as follow-up from Hammond Report
1940 Ethic-based school established
1941 Malay Teacher Training College
Stage Two – After the Second World War (1946-1956)
Primary and Secondary Education
Due to the Japanese Occupation registrations for schoolings and quality of teaching
decline, why? But then after 1946, the two medical institutions reopened and the
British had to spent a lot of money to restore education.
Restructuring plan by Cheeseman 1946 recommended:
i) free education for basic primary education for all
ii) the use of all medium of instructions at secondary level
iii) English language becomes a compulsory subject in all vernacular schools
Cheeseman failed to address the issue of integration and collapsed with Malayan
Union issues.
Barnes Report 1951
Chaired by LJ Barnes from Oxford University they failed because of the radical
recommendation i.e abolishing all vernacular schools using the mother tongue

10. language.
- establishment of bilingual schools where Malay and English language as
medium of instruction
- progressive conversion of Malay, Chinese and Tamil schools to national-type
- replacement of Jawi script with Islamic religious studies to reduce burden of
sending children to afternoon religious classes
Fenn-Wu Report 1952
Fenn-Wu focused on Chinese schools plus the use of Malay, Mandarin and English
language as medium of instruction in all vernacular schools
Education Ordinance 1952
Recommendations were;
- implemenatation of national school education system through progressive
introduction of English language in all Malay schools
- enforcement of Malay and English language in all Chinese and Tamil schools
- retainment of English national-type schools
- teaching of Islamic education during school hours
- development of vocational schools
Razak Report 1956
Released on May 6, 1956 by recommending:
- Malay language as national language and main medium of instruction
- Environment-oriented curriculum with local flavour
- Common syllabus for all schools
- Two types of school be made available for all races; fully aided and private
schools
- Secondary schools education to consist the lower secondary, upper secondary
and pre-U
- Central examination system
- Qualified and fully trained teachers
- Placement of all teachers under common professional service
- Establishment of the Federal School Inspectorate
With the implementation of the national education system in 1956; three elite schools
were established namely Sekolah Tuanku Abdul Rahman (STAR) Ipoh, Sekolah Dato
Abdul Razak (SDAR) Seremban and Sekolah Tun Fatimah in Johor Bharu (girls).

11. Teacher Training
In response to the lack of trained and qualified teachers, two teacher training colleges
were set-up in England plus in Penang, Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bharu.
Kirby Teachers Training College
Memories of Kirby Teacher Training College
Set-up in 1952 in Liverpool, England as Malaya at the time was in Emergency
declaration and after World War II. By January 1952, 149 young men and women went
for two year training; the second intake 150 more were sent with only grade I and II in
Cambridge School Certificate with credit in English language were selected. The
curriculum were English language, Malay language, geography, literature,
mathematics, handicraft, child development, psychology and other related subject. R
Williams was the principal till 1954, followed by GJ Gurney until place was closed in
1962 as Malaya had many teacher colleges built.
Brinsford Lodge
1955 in Wolverhampton by British Colonial government. Trained lower secondary
school teachers and potential lecturers for training colleges.
Brinsford Lodge in Wolverhampton

12. Created on Nov 12, 2010 and edited last by Pengendali@2006