I’ll begin my posting with a series on the paths various Asians take to get to university. Of course, I can’t be sure that what I’ve listed is complete, but I’ll try my best.

Lets begin with a Malaysian.

Does anyone want to know how a Malaysian gets to university? Let me roughly sketch the journey.

Step 1: Enter Primary (a.k.a. Elementary) School for six (6) years
- One usually starts at the age of six or seven with some kindergarten probably.

- Then on, the student begins from the lowly Primary 1 to the penultimate Primary 6.
- At that point, the UPSR (a Malay acronym for a Primary School Leaving Examination) is taken.
- As long the student does not fail too badly, he/she gets to go on to the next stage.

Note: Previously, there was an exam called the PTS, which allowed students to skip Primary 4. However, it has been scrapped, most likely because it failed to properly discriminate between those truly capable and the incapable.

Step 2: Enter Secondary School (a.k.a. High) School for five (5) years
- The student begins high school life with Secondary 1, going on till Secondary 3.

- Secondary 3 is where the PMR (another national examination) beckons.
- From the PMR results, the student gets to choose his/her stream (i.e. Arts / Science / Sub-Science). The better the results, the more science subjects one gets to take. But the actual combinations differs from school to school.

- Secondary Four and Five (4 & 5) are the years where one prepares for the SPM (the secondary school leaving exam). The SPM is an exam equivalent to the Cambridge ‘O’ Levels.
- Note: This exam is particularly crucial given that Public Service Commission Scholarships are given out based on the results of this exam. Screw the exam, and you screw any last hope you have for a scholarship.

- Now, here we have two branches to the path:

Step 3, Branch 1: “Upper” High School for two (2) years [The not-so-desirable path]

- Most students from here will go for another two years to prepare for the STPM (equivalent to the Cambridge ‘A’ Levels and the IB).
- Generally, most high schools also provide education for these final two years.

Step 3, Branch 2: Private College for one to two (2) years depending on the programme
- Students with parents with more spending power get to go to Private Colleges (like Taylor’s College, Sunway College, etc.)
- Generally, students embark on the ‘A’ Levels, Australian Matriculation programs like AUSMAT and SAM, or even go for the IB.

Final Step: University (Public or Private)

- If one successfully passes all the hurdles involved in the previous steps, he/she will probably get to read a degree in a public or private university.
- If one went for Step 3, Branch 1, one would most probably enter a public university. However, it is a possibility that one doesn’t get a place given that university places are overbooked.
- If one went for Step 3, Branch 2, one would probably continue with a private college for an accredited degree or twinning courses or better still, go to an overseas university.

As usual, money plays a big part. With money, one gets the better choices, but its unlikely to be different anywhere, right?

Personal Comments:

It is probably every intelligent and not-so-rich Malaysian student to get a scholarship from the government or other organisations, such as the Malaysian Central Bank. In fact, many top students actually expect to get one (which of course leads to many complaints over the selection process when one doesn’t get it).

The scholarships lead to almost anywhere, from the coveted UK and US scholarships, to Australia (also good), France, Germany, Japan, Indonesia, etc. This is probably why Malaysia sends out the most overseas scholars every year (worldwide record here).

Feel free to comment. PTU2 - A Singaporean’s Path to University will come next.