CENTRALIZED DECENTRALIZATION IN MALAYSIAN EDUCATION
One current global trend in educational reformis the decentralization of national education systems. Decentralization has been promoted by UNESCO, the World Bank, and other multilateral and bilateral assistance agencies for a number of years (McGinn, 1997
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INTRODUCTION
One current global trend in educational reform is the decentralization of national education systems. Decentralization has been promoted by UNESCO, the World Bank, and other multilateral and bilateral assistance agencies for a number of years (McGinn, 1997). The growing interest in decentralization arises from the realization that many education systems, particularly those in the Third World, have expanded rapidly, making it increasingly difficult to plan and administer all education activities effectively and efficiently from the center. Support for decentralization has become so widespread that even highly centralized countries like Malaysia and Singapore have endorsed initiatives that aim to decentralize aspects of their education systems. This chapter analyzes the most prominent decentralization measures that have been undertaken in Malaysia over the past two decades. These initiatives include the establishment of District Education Offices, reforms calling for the decentralization of the national curriculum, and the privatization of higher education. Malaysia provides an interesting case because although the central government has publicly supported numerous decentralization programs, it has been reluctant to relinquish its authority over the schools. In short, the form is there but not the substance. Advocates of decentralization have offered a long list of reasons for the redistribution of authority in the planning and administration of education. In general, there are three main motives for decentralization, namely, (i) to maintain a politically legitimate dispersal of authority, (ii) to render good quality of services, and (iii) to optimize efficient use of resources (Lauglo, 1995). Under the political legitimacy rationalization, decentralization is aimed at widening the participation in decision-making on educational matters to different agencies, groups, and stakeholders. Decentralization policies may be used to diffuse political dissent or to seek alternative resources in providing finance for education. Under the quality and efficiency rationales, decentralization can be a means of increasing effectiveness by moving control over the schools closer to the parents and communities and making education more responsive to local problems and needs. Debate on centralization and decentralization usually revolves around the issue of who controls and who ought to control education. Education is a contested terrain and it is often a site of struggle among different groups, particularly in a multiethnic country like Malaysia. Decentralization can take the forms of political decentralization or administrative decentralization. Political decentralization is driven by questions about who has the right to make decisions about educational matters, 149 Christopher Bjork (ed.), Educational Decentralization, 149–158. C 2006 Springer. Printed in the Netherlands.
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EDUCATIONAL DECENTRALIZATION
including issues related to the funding of schools. Administrative decentralization, in contrast, involves
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