Malaysian school terms explained

The abbreviations and Malay terms you will meet on Malaysian school records, from SK and SJKC to PPD and prasekolah, each with a plain-English definition and the current count from Ministry of Education data.

Counts are from KPM records as at 31 Jul 2026. Terms are grouped by where you will meet them.

School types

SK Sekolah Kebangsaan: A national primary school. Teaching is in Malay, with English as a compulsory subject. This is the largest category of government school in Malaysia. Malaysia currently has 5,842 in the Ministry of Education's records.
SJKC Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Cina): A national-type primary school where the medium of instruction is Mandarin. Fully government-funded and follows the national curriculum. Malaysia currently has 1,304 in the Ministry of Education's records.
SJKT Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil): A national-type primary school where the medium of instruction is Tamil. Fully government-funded and follows the national curriculum. Malaysia currently has 528 in the Ministry of Education's records.
SMK Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan: A national secondary school covering Form 1 to Form 5, leading to the SPM examination. Malaysia currently has 2,001 in the Ministry of Education's records.
SMKA Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Agama: A national religious secondary school that adds Islamic studies to the national curriculum. Malaysia currently has 62 in the Ministry of Education's records.
SBP Sekolah Berasrama Penuh: A fully residential secondary school. Most are named Sekolah Menengah Sains and admit pupils by academic selection. Malaysia currently has 73 in the Ministry of Education's records.
KV Kolej Vokasional: A vocational college under the Ministry of Education, offering skills-based upper-secondary programmes. Malaysia currently has 86 in the Ministry of Education's records.
KT6 Kolej Tingkatan Enam: A sixth-form college for Form 6, leading to the STPM examination. Malaysia currently has 29 in the Ministry of Education's records.
SMT Sekolah Menengah Teknik: A technical secondary school with an engineering and technology stream. Malaysia currently has 9 in the Ministry of Education's records.
SABK Sekolah Agama Bantuan Kerajaan: A government-aided religious school, primary (SR SABK) or secondary (SM SABK), run by a state religious body or board with Ministry of Education funding. Malaysia currently has 234 in the Ministry of Education's records.
Pendidikan Khas Sekolah Pendidikan Khas: A special education school, at primary (SK Pendidikan Khas) or secondary (SM Pendidikan Khas) level, for pupils with visual, hearing or learning disabilities. Malaysia currently has 35 in the Ministry of Education's records.
Sekolah Seni Sekolah Seni Malaysia: A secondary arts school combining the national curriculum with music, dance, theatre and visual arts. Malaysia currently has 4 in the Ministry of Education's records.
Sekolah Sukan Sekolah Sukan Malaysia: A secondary sports school for pupils in national athlete development programmes. Malaysia currently has 5 in the Ministry of Education's records.

Preschool

Tadika Tadika (kindergarten): A preschool for children aged 4 to 6, registered with the Ministry of Education. Every tadika on this site appears in the KPM e-Prasekolah registry. Malaysia currently has 23,903 in the Ministry of Education's records.
Taska Taska (childcare centre): A childcare centre for children under 4, registered with the Department of Social Welfare (JKM), not with the Ministry of Education. Taska are not listed on this site.
Prasekolah Prasekolah (government preschool class): A preschool class run inside a government primary school by the Ministry of Education. Places are allocated by the school. Malaysia currently has 3,747 in the Ministry of Education's records.
Tabika KEMAS: A community kindergarten run by KEMAS, the Community Development Department (Jabatan Kemajuan Masyarakat), mainly serving rural and lower-income areas. Malaysia currently has 7,998 in the Ministry of Education's records.
Tabika Perpaduan: A kindergarten run by JPNIN, the Department of National Unity and Integration (Jabatan Perpaduan Negara dan Integrasi Nasional), with a multi-ethnic intake by design. Malaysia currently has 1,781 in the Ministry of Education's records.

Private and international

International school: A private school following a foreign curriculum, such as British, American, Australian or IB, registered with the Ministry of Education through SMIPS. Malaysia currently has 258 in the Ministry of Education's records.
Expatriate school: An international school registered in the SMIPS category for schools serving mainly expatriate children. Malaysia currently has 19 in the Ministry of Education's records.
Chinese Independent School: A privately run secondary school outside the national system, coordinated by Dong Zong (the United Chinese School Committees Association), teaching mainly in Mandarin and preparing pupils for the UEC examination. Malaysia currently has 60 in the Ministry of Education's records.
Private religious school: A privately run Islamic primary or secondary school registered with the Ministry of Education through SMIPS. Malaysia currently has 117 in the Ministry of Education's records.

Administration and data

KPM Kementerian Pendidikan Malaysia: The Ministry of Education Malaysia, the federal ministry responsible for preschool, primary and secondary education.
JPN Jabatan Pendidikan Negeri: The state education department. Each of the 16 states and federal territories has one.
PPD Pejabat Pendidikan Daerah: The district education office. Every government school belongs to one, and this site groups schools by it. Malaysia currently has 146 in the Ministry of Education's records.
PPW Pejabat Pendidikan Wilayah: The education office for a federal territory; Kuala Lumpur uses PPW where other states use PPD.
EMIS Educational Management Information System: The Ministry of Education database of government schools. It is the source of the school, pupil and teacher figures on this site.
SMIPS Sistem Maklumat Institusi Pendidikan Swasta: The Ministry of Education registry of private education institutions. It is the source of the private and international school listings on this site.
e-Prasekolah: The Ministry of Education registration system for preschools. It is the source of the kindergarten listings on this site.
Gred Gred sekolah (school grade): An administrative grade of A, B or C that KPM assigns to a school, mainly reflecting its enrolment size. It is not a quality rating.
Sesi Sesi (session): Whether a school runs a morning session (pagi), an afternoon session (petang) or both.
Parlimen and DUN Parliamentary and state constituency: The federal parliamentary constituency (Parlimen) and the state assembly constituency (DUN, Dewan Undangan Negeri) in which a school sits.