Educational and curriculum development: independence to 1990 Reformation inThe National Education System of Malaysia, as mentioned earlier, was Malaysiainherited from the British colonial government. However, the policy outlined inthe Education Act of 1961, was a result of clearly thought out strategies aimedat revamping the fragmented education system of the British colonial era, withthe main objective of achieving national unity and development througheducation. 463 The Education Act was to be implemented in stages, to ensure a gradualtransition. It was this gradual implementation of the Education Act, whichcharacterized educational development and curriculum changes in the earlydecades after independence. In essence, it was a gradual change from theBritish (English School) type of education to a Malaysian education system,with a Malaysian outlook and Malaysian oriented curriculum. Curriculum planning and development was (and is) done at the federal leveland the national education system is centrally administered. Education was andis a federal matter. Curriculum changes mainly took the form of adapting thecurriculum to the changing needs of the nation, specifically adapting thesyllabus, that is content of subjects to be taught, to fulfil the development needsof the country. The main objective of education was still national unity, butchanges during this time have also shifted the emphasis from national unity tonational unity and human resource development for a developing nation. At the end of the 1970s, after undergoing changes in the curriculum andsystem as a whole, all schools used Bahasa Malaysia as the medium ofinstruction (except at primary level which was provided for in the EducationAct) and comprehensive education was provided for nine years. The changingemphasis during this period reflected the importance given to science andtechnology, in the light of economic development of the times. The system ofeducation then can be described as providing basic education at the elementarylevel, general comprehensive education at the lower secondary level, and semi-specialized at the upper secondary level. Specialization as preparation foruniversity was done in Grades 12 and 13, or the pre-university level, at the endof which students sit for the Malaysian Higher School Certificate of EducationExamination. Societal and economic changes during the period, reflected in an increasingemphasis on science and technology in general, also saw the changingimportance given to technical and vocational education as part of the “sciencestream” in schooling. As a result, technical and vocational education gainedrecognition and popularity, due to the demand for technically orientedindividuals in the labor market. By the end of the 1970s, there were 68 technicaland vocational schools in Malaysia, with more than 30,200 students enrolled, inaddition to 1,200 normal “academic” schools in the country. At the end of the 1970s, the government felt that it was time to reviewwhether the system’s evolution was meeting the needs of a progressiveMalaysian nation. Once again an Education Review Committee was set upunder the then Honorable Minister of Education, Dr Mahathir Mohammed