ABSTRACT
Malaysia aims to become a high-income nation that is both inclusive and sustainable by the year 2020. Under its Economic Transformation Programme (ETP), Malaysia hopes to increase its gross national income per capita to at least US$15,000 by 2020, from its current level of about US$10,000 (PEMANDU 2010). Education is seen to play a central role in Malaysia’s economic growth and national development. Thus the government has been investing heavily in education. In 2011, the government spent as much as 3.8 percent of its gross domestic product (GDP) on education, or 16 percent of total government spending, which is higher than the OECD average of 3.4 percent GDP or 8.7 percent of total public spending (MoE 2012). Starting from 2004, there were two ministries in charge of delivering educational services in the public sector, the Ministry of Education (MoE) and Ministry of Higher Education (MoHE), but these two ministries were merged in 2013 so as to ensure better coordination and increased efficiency of the education system. These ministries had produced blueprints and strategic plans for the development of the school sector and higher education sector, respectively. MoE launched its National Education Blueprint 2013–2025 (NEB) in 2013, while the MoHE launched its National Higher Education Strategic Plan (NHESP) earlier, in 2004.
