ABSTRACT
This chapter examines the changing pattern of teacher education in Malaysia, and highlights key issues relating to language policy, regional differences, curriculum, and manpower planning. The Malaysian Government views access to higher education as a means of redistributing income inequalities among the different ethnic groups, and of eliminating the identification of ethnic communities with certain economic functions. Bahasa Malaysia became the main medium of instruction in schools starting in 1970, and that meant massive retraining of teachers to be well-versed in the national language. This was carried out progressively throughout the 1970s when all non-Malay speaking teachers were required to attend a six-month Bahasa Malaysia course. In sum, Malaysia has made a choice in favour of cultural hegemony and this political ideology has influenced many of the current education policies in the country. Educational decisionmaking takes place at the lowest possible unit within a larger administrative and political framework.
