Thursday, 15 September 2011

The Educaton of Chinese Independence High School

There are total 60 Chinese Independence High School in Malaysia.These are the followings:

Kuala Lumpur:
  • Tsun Jin High School
  • Kuen Cheng Girls School
  • Confucian Private Secondary School
  • Chong Hwa Independent High School
Selangor:
  • Kwang Hua (Private) High School
  • Pin Hua High School
  • Hin Hua High School
  • Chung Hua Independent High School
Perak:
  • Shen Jai High School
  • Perak Yuk Choy High School
  • Poi Lam High School
  • Yik Ching High School
  • Tsung Wah (Private) Secondary School
  • Nan Hwa High School
  • Pei Yuan High School
  • San Min High School
  • Hua Lian High School
Johor:
  • Chung Hwa High School Muar
  • Pei Hwa High School
  • Kluang Chong Hwa High School
  • Yong Peng High School
  • Chinese High School Batu Pahat
  • Chong Hwa High School, Batu Pahat
  • Pei Chun High School
  • Foon Yew High School
Melaka:
  • Pay Fong High School
Negeri Sembilan:
  • Chung Hua High School, Seremban
  • Chung Hua Middle School, Port Dickson
Kedah:
  • Sin Min High School, Sungai Petani
  • Sin Min High School, Alor Setar
  • Keat Hwa High School
Pulau Pinang:
  • Jit Sin High School
  • Han Chiang High School
  • Chung Ling (Private) High School
  • Penang Chinese Girls' Private High School
  • Phor Tay Private High School, not to be confused with Phor Tay High School
Kelantan:
  • Chung Hwa Independent High School
Sarawak:
  • Chung Hua Middle School No.1
  • Chung Hua Middle School No.3
  • Chung Hua Middle School No.4
  • Batu Kawa Min Lit Secondary School
  • Serian Public Secondary School
  • Guong Ming Middle School
  • Wong Nai Siong Secondary School
  • Kiang Hin Middle School
  • Catholic High School, Sibu
  • Citizen Middle School, Sibu
  • Kai Dee Middle School
  • Pei Min Middle School
  • Riam Road Secondary School
  • Ming Lik Secondary School
Sabah:
  • Sabah Tshung Tsin Secondary School
  • Kian Kok Middle School
  • Papar Middle School
  • Beaufort Middle School
  • Tenom Tshung Tsin Secondary School
  • Sabah Chinese High School, Tawau
  • Pei Tsin High School
  • Lahad Datu Middle School
  • Yu Yuan Secondary School

Chinese Independent High Schools (中华独立中学) is a type of private high school in Malaysia. They provide secondary education in the Chinese language as the continuation of the primary education in Chinese national-type primary schools. The medium of instruction in these schools is Mandarin with simplified Chinese characters writing.
There are a total of 60 Chinese Independent High Schools in the country, including 23 from East Malaysia, and they represent a small number of the high schools in Malaysia. The United Chinese School Committees Association of Malaysia (UCSCAM, the association of Chinese school teachers and trustees( 马来西亚华校董事联合会总会) also known as the Dong Jiao Zong (董教总), coordinates the curriculum used in the schools and organizes the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) standardized test. Despite this, the schools are independent of each other and are free to manage their own affairs.
Being private schools, Chinese Independent High Schools do not receive funding from the Malaysian government, unlike their National Type cousins. However, in accordance with their aim of providing affordable education to all in the Chinese language, their school fees are substantially lower than those of most other private schools. The schools are kept alive almost exclusively by donations from the public.


Students usually spend 6 years in a Chinese Independent High School. The 6 years are divided into two stages: three years in junior middle and three years in senior middle, similar to the secondary school systems in mainland China and Taiwan. Students are streamed into tracks like Science or Art/Commerce in the senior middle stage. At the end of each stage, students sit for the Unified Examination Certificate (UEC). A few schools offer an additional year in senior middle, catering to students taking the government's Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM, equivalent to A-level).
Chinese Independent High Schools use the same academic year as government schools. An academic year consists of two semesters: Semester 1 from January to May and Semester 2 from June to November, with examinations at the end of each semester. The overall academic performance of a student in an academic year determines his/her promotion to the next study year in the next academic year. Failing requires repeating the study year. In contrast, students in government schools are automatically promoted regardless of academic performance.

The Unified Examination Certificate (UEC)

The Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) is a standardized test for Chinese Independent High School students organized by the UCSCAM since 1975. The UEC is available in three levels: Junior Middle (UEC-JML), Vocational (UEC-V), and Senior Middle (UEC-SML). Examinations for the UEC-JML and UEC-V are only available in the Chinese language. The UEC-SML has questions for mathematics, sciences (biology, chemistry and physics), bookkeeping, accounting and commerce available in Chinese and English.
The UEC-SML is recognized as a qualification for entrance into many tertiary educational institutions around the world, including the United Kingdom, the United States, Taiwan, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Australia, Canada and many others. It is not recognized by the government of Malaysia for entry into public universities, but most private colleges recognize it.
Because the UEC is not recognized by the Malaysian government, some Chinese Independent High Schools opt to teach the national secondary school curriculum (in Malay) alongside the independent school curriculum (in Chinese) and require students to sit for the government standardized tests (PMR, SPM or even STPM) as private school candidates, providing the students an opportunity to obtain government-recognized certificates.
Chinese educationalist Dr Kua Kia Soong mentions the introduction of the UEC in his book Protean Saga: The Chinese Schools of Malaysia. According to the book, the introduction of the UEC led to Dr Mahathir Mohamad, the then Minister of Education and later the Prime Minister of Malaysia, summoning the Chinese educationalists to parliament. To quote the book, "The latter (Mahathir) did not mince his words but told the Dong Jiao Zong leaders that UEC had better not be held or else ... He did not ask for any response and dismissed the Chinese educationalists with a curt ... 'that is all'."
In May 2004 the National Accreditation Board (LAN) required students entering local private colleges using any qualification other than the SPM to pass the SPM Malay paper. This drew protests and the then Minister of Higher Education Dr Shafie Salleh exempted UEC students from this requirement.







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