Increasing Access to and Retention in Primary Education in Malaysia 143
primary schooling to all children. However, access to education remains
lower for children who are poor, live in remote and sparsely populated area
and without citizenship documentation. It should be noted that children
without citizenship documents are not captured in the calculations of Net
Enrolment Ratio (NER), and thus represents an additional population of
out-of-school children and youth.
The following sections will discuss patterns of primary school access
and retention, quality and equity in Malaysia, and policies affecting access
and retention in the sector.
WHAT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED?
Patterns of Primary School Access and Retention
in Malaysia
Figure 6.1 shows the primary school NER for selected years (indicated
by dots) between 1970 and 1972 as well as between 1994 and 2005. This
rate measures the proportion of children aged 7 to 13 who were enrolled
FIGURE 6.1
Primary School Net Enrolment Rate, 1970–2005Source: World Bank data.