The Ministry of Education

Technical Vocational Schools at Secondary School Level (Form 4 and Form 5)
Technical and vocational education under the Ministry of Education begins at the primary school level. At the primary level, students are introduced to the study of pre-vocational subjects that cover various aspects of manipulative skills. As the students progress into the lower secondary level, pre-vocational education is continued through a Living Skills subject, which provides students further exposure to various areas of simple vocational skills. The upper secondary level (Form 4 and Form 5) is the level where technical and vocational education formally commences, as mentioned earlier. Here, the technical and vocational schools offer the same core subjects as normal academic schools. These cover several core subjects for the languages, mathematics, and sciences but in addition the students are required to take selected technical and vocational subjects from a group of several different options.

• Streams / Types
  Secondary Technical Vocational School has 3 streams for selection:
  – Technical Stream (mechanical, civil and electrical engineering, agriculture science & commerce subjects)
  – Vocational Stream (Engineering Trades, Commerce, Home Economics and Agriculture)
  – Skill Training Stream (Occupational courses)
   

• Student Enrolment
  Currently there are 89 schools in operation with student enrolments as shown below: (as at June 2003)
  – Technical stream : 35,349 students
  – Vocational stream : 26,806 students
  – Skill Training stream : 4,794 students
   

• Entry Requirements and SPM Examination
  The general entry requirement is the Lower Secondary Assessment (PMR) certificate and the school fee is RM35 per year, for a duration of 2 years (Form 4 and Form 5). Upon completing 2 years of studies at this level, the technical or vocational school students are required to sit for the common public examination called the Malaysia Certificate of Education or Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination similar to those academic school students from the secondary academic schools. However students from the Skill Training stream will sit for Sijil Kemahiran Malaysia* (Malaysian Skill Certificate) after which a government skill qualification is awarded for Level 1, 2, 3, 4 & 5.

The Ministry of Higher Education

Technical and Vocational Education at Post Secondary Level
This post-secondary level of technical education, which is under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Higher Education, comprises the following public institutions:
• Polytechnics
• Community Colleges
• Technical University Colleges
• Public Universities

(i) Polytechnics

• Introduction
  There are currently 19 polytechnics in the country conducting technical and vocational education offering 37 diploma and 26 certificate programmes covering study areas like engineering, commerce, food technology, marine, hospitality and Design. As at September 2003, there is a total student enrolment of 50,232 where 23,937 of them are undergoing course at the certificate level while the remaining 26,295 are studying at the diploma level.
  
  The primary objective for the establishment of polytechnics is to provide broad-based education and training to upper secondary school leavers to become skilled personnel in the various engineering fields, commercial and service sectors, and upon graduation to become qualified technicians, technical assistants (assistant engineers), technologist and technicians at the semi-professional level as well as at the junior and middle executive levels.
   

• Duration and Fee
  All study programmes are conducted full-time at Certificate and Diploma levels. The duration for all certificate courses is 2 years (4 semesters), while the duration taken for all diploma courses is 3 years (6 semesters) with the exception of Diploma in Shipping (7 semesters) and Diploma in Secretarial Science (4 semesters). The course fees for both the Certificate and Diploma levels are about RM200 per semester.
   

• General Entry Requirements
  a) For Certificate Courses:
  - Must be a Malaysian citizen
  - Must pass the SPM or the SPM (Vocational) examination
  b) For Diploma Courses:
  - Must be a Malaysian citizen
  - Must possess the Polytechnic Certificate which is relevant to the course applied for

• Course Directory
  The courses offered by Polytechnics at Certificate and Diploma levels can be summarised as belows:
  a. Certificate Level
  b. Diploma Level
   

• More Information
  Kindly refer to the Course Directory Section and Application Procedures for Public Higher Learning Institutions Section for course details and a list of polytechnics.

(ii) Community Colleges

• Introduction
  Community Colleges were first established by the government in the year 2000 with the primary objective of providing alternative skill training and education for secondary school leavers and those who have left the formal education system. The first intake of students by 12 community colleges for the academic session 2000/2001 was 1255.
  
  Currently there are 34 community colleges in the country with an enrolment of about 6,000 students. It was proposed to have a community college in every parliamentary district to offer flexible training and retraining programmes as needed by the market as well as the local community.
   

• Duration and Entry Requirements
  These colleges conduct technical & vocational education at the Certificate and Diploma levels, for school leavers who have previously had at least 11 years of schooling and obtained the Malaysian Certificate of Education (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia).
  The minimum duration of studies for a Certificate course is 4 semesters while the maximum duration is 10 semesters. The Diploma course, that usually takes 2 semesters, is offered to students who have successfully completed their certificate course with good grades.
   

• Course Offered
  The courses offered are in areas of agriculture; building; business; electrical engineering; health science hospitality & tourism; human development; vehicles; performing arts/visual; and information & communication technology. In addition, short courses are also available in 12 notable areas of computer; electrical; vehicles; industry; apparel; beauty therapy; nutrition; languages; decoration; building; motivation; and generic skills.
   

• More Information
  Kindly refer to the Course Directory Section and Application Procedures for Public Higher Learning Institutions Section for course details and a list of community colleges.

(iii) Technical University Colleges

• Introduction
  In order to upgrade the image and professional level of technical and vocational education due to the increasing importance of employment in the industrial sectors, the government has, since 1999, set up 5 technical university colleges to focus on higher technical education offering engineering and related technical programmes designed to produce graduates with strong theoretical and cognitive knowledge and who possess high competency in application skills. They are:
  • Kolej Universiti Sains dan Teknologi Malaysia (KUSTEM) established on 15-7-1999
  • Kolej Universiti Teknologi Tun Hussein Onn (KUiTTHO), established in 2000
  • Kolej Universiti Teknikal Kebangsaan Malaysia (KUTKM) established on 20-9-2000
  • Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan Utara Malaysia (KUKUM), established in 2002
  • Kolej Universiti Kejuruteraan & Teknologi Malaysia (KUKTEM), established in 2002
  
  These technical university colleges offer programmes at Diploma and Bachelor degree levels. Some of them are also offer post-graduate studies in various technical fields. The establishment of these universities is to complement the existing 11 public universities.
   

• Entry Requirements and Application to Study
  For Diploma level programmes, the general entry requirement is SPM/equivalent or certificate from Polytechnics while for Bachelor degree level programmes, it is STPM or Matriculation qualification of the Ministry of Education or Diploma qualification from Polytechnics.
  All application to study in the above universities is centrally processed by The Division of Student Admission (Bahagian Pengurusan Kemasukan Pelajar or BPKP) of the Ministry of Higher Education.
   

• More Information
  For more details on application procedures and courses offered, kindly refer to the course directory section and application procedures for Public Higher Learning Institutions Section.

(iv) Public Universities

There are currently a total of 17 public universities in the country which is inclusive of the abovementioned 5 technical university colleges. Besides the 5 specialist technical universities colleges, many of the regular public universities, particularly the Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) offer many technical and technological as well as engineering programmes leading to diploma and degree qualifications. However, the places of study available are not sufficient to meet the demand of the SPM or STPM holders. The total student enrolment as at academic session 2003/2004 was 282,560.

• Entry Requirements and Application to Study
  For Diploma level programmes, the general entry requirement is SPM/equivalent or certificate from Polytechnics while for Bachelor degree level programmes, it is STPM or Matriculation qualification of the Ministry of Education or Diploma qualification fr