Educational sociologist Anuar Ahmad said the growing number of Bumiputera students in these schools, while not statistically significant, reflects a changing perception of public schools, especially among families with higher income.
He told FMT that such parents would view international schools, with better facilities and higher quality education, as being able to boost their children’s education and career prospects.
“As earnings increase, it is correlated to parents’ decision to enrol their children in international schools, which charge expensive fees.
“They use international curriculums such as those from the UK, Australia, Canada or the US. Parents see these international curriculums as opportunities to further their children’s tertiary studies abroad,” said the Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia academic.
Anuar also said international schools exposed students to more cultures besides the “common Malaysian ones” as they forged relationships with foreign children.
However, the trend was a matter of concern as international schools do not use the national curriculum, and Bumiputera students would not develop a holistic understanding of the Malay culture and language.
“We already have a variety of national schools that shape our national identity. If we over-diversify (with the addition of international schools), it will raise all sorts of problems in terms of national unity, as Malaysians living in the same nation.”
To regain public confidence, the education ministry must urgently improve the quality of education and the curriculum, and the facilities in national schools, he said.
On Tuesday, education minister Fadhlina Sidek said in a written parliamentary reply that Bumiputera enrolment in international schools went up by 49.4% while non-Bumiputera enrolment went up by 30.6% from 2019 to 2024.
She said Malaysian students made up 67.1% of the 88,951 enrolled in international schools.
Parent Action Group for Education chairman Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim said international schools have become more accessible in recent years, with several more affordable options popping up.
She added that these schools were particularly sensible for smaller families with a double income.
Azimah criticised the education ministry’s decision to remove the 40% cap on local enrollment in international schools in 2012, as well as the requirement that one of the parents of these local students must be a foreigner.
She said the relaxation of the rule further exacerbated a “critical brain drain” in Malaysia, by allowing such schools to take in more Malaysian students. These students would go on to further their studies abroad and remain there, she said.
“The education ministry has failed to create the so-called competition but has instead further segregated the young, with many Malaysians having little or no proficiency in the national language.
“Meanwhile, national school students are deprived of further enhancing their English until their proficiency in Malay has reached the national average, such as in the case of the dual language programme,” she said.