Compare and Contrast Malaysian Education System and American Education System

Compare and Contrast Malaysian Education System and American Education System There is another difference between Malaysian and American education system, which is the existence of tuition culture. In Malaysia, tuition means supplementary academic coaching (Eduweb Technology, n.d.). Children as young as seven were sent to tuition classes after their school hours. Students attend tuition classes on their own and pay for the profit-oriented tutoring service. Typically, students are taught what have been taught in schools and they learn twice (Ganesan, 2010). Teaching techniques in tuition classes are geared towards helping pupils do well in the national exams such as UPSR, PMR, SPM and STPM. In tuition classes, the tutors teach and give exercise based on exam format and the sole purpose of meeting the exam requirement instead of teaching real knowledge. Students go outside and seek tuition classes because of their and their parents’ general opinions towards public schools in Malaysia that deemed them to be low standards in teaching. Students who are busy attending tuition classes tend to neglect their co-curricular activities. This is not encouraged as co-curricular activities help develop discipline, leadership and team-building skills which are important interpersonal skills. Many students in Malaysia are rushed to tuition class once they get off schools without any proper rest. This might cause the students unable to focus in tuition classes. Some students that are not doing well in their exams are forced to attend tuition by their parents, and this can cause the students to feel pressured when they are not improving after they went to tuition classes.
In America, tuition is what people pay to a college or a university. Students do not attend tuition but “afterschool activities”, that are organized program which invites youth to participate outside of the traditional school hours (Mahoney, Parente, and Zigler, 2009). These afterschool activities can enhance academic achievement for those who are falling behind in their studies. Some activities allow a student to catch up with their research where they can go further in-depth with research that they have begun during school hours. Some of these activities also prepare the students for college earlier through programs that uses college students as mentors and role models for the young program participants. Students actively participate in afterschool activities which help to develop talent, independence and management ability (Corporate Voices for Working Family, n.d.). American educational system stress the importance of the social, emotional, and physical development of a student rather than just focusing on their academic achievement which is why afterschool programs offer children and youth the opportunity to develop new skills and interests where they can interact and socialize with people of same interest and hobby. Informal learning also take place where some of the activities help the students to learn and cope with stress and it also help reduce other negative behaviour such as substance abuse or teen pregnancies with guidance, help and explanations from responsible adult that participated in the activities.