Monthly salaries & wages of employees by educational attainment

In 2014, employees with tertiary education received monthly salaries & wages two times
higher than that of employees with secondary education. The median monthly salaries &
wages of employees with tertiary education was RM3,000 as compared to employees with
secondary education with RM1,410. Meanwhile, the mean monthly salaries & wages of
employees with tertiary education was RM3,686 in comparison to employees with secondary
education that is RM1,713. Employees with primary education recorded the median salary &
wages of RM950 and mean RM1,090. The category of employees with secondary education
was the highest (54.9%) of the total paid employees.

Monthly salaries & wages of employees by educational attainment The monthly salaries &
wages of the employees with tertiary education was twice the amount received by
employees with secondary education in 2015 and 2016. The median monthly salaries &
wages of employees with tertiary education was RM3,274 compared to secondary that was
RM1,600. Meanwhile, the mean monthly salaries & wages of employees with tertiary
education was RM4,042 compared to secondary (RM1,845). Employees with primary
education recorded the median monthly salaries & wages RM1,200 and mean RM1,327.
During the British rule, each ethnic group also generally experienced different education
systems (Mahathir 1998, p.74-75; Shastri 1993, p.3). Most Malays were educated in the
government school system located in the rural areas that used the Malay language as the
medium of instruction. The Chinese on the other hand sent their children to the Chinese
medium schools, which were established by Chinese voluntary associations. Nevertheless,
the elite segment of each ethnic group generally sent their children to the English medium
schools located in the urban areas, where the quality of education was far better than the
rural Malay-medium school. Furthermore, most secondary and tertiary education was
available in the urban areas with English as the medium of instruction. Those who were
educated at the English medium schools tended to gain positions in the civil service,
commerce, business, and professions. Since most of the Malays were educated in the rural
Malay medium schools, this indirectly limited their upward social mobility.
Furthermore, income inequality in Malaysia is further exacerbated by the restriction of
access to higher education due to the high fees involved. This contributes directly to the
creation and reinforcement of a vicious poverty trap, wherein the poor are prevented access
to higher education due to poverty, thus becoming unable to compete effectively in the job
market and therefore unable to improve their income. The high barriers to education also
effectively reinforces income inequality as the rich, who can afford higher education are in a
better position to jockey for higher-paid employment, thus increasing their wealth and further
widening the income and social divide. In a feeble attempt to correct this, the government
introduced National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans which act as student
loans to enable the public, and in particular, the poor to access higher education. These
loans have proven to be burdensome on the student population, with students taking to the
streets to express their dissatisfaction. In addition, the repayment rate for these loans is
dismally low, standing at a paltry 49.9%. This comes even after the offering of a staggering
20% discount on repayment. This clearly shows that the poor simply do not have the means
to finance higher education and as a result, they have no choice but to default on their
student loans. It is no secret that with the nature of the high-skilled job market today,
graduates are in high demand. However due to the aforementioned poverty trap, low-income
households find themselves increasingly excluded from high-paying jobs. To overcome this
problem, it is proposed that Malaysia publicly fund all education, including post-secondary
education. This method of advancing the populace is not a particularly new one. In fact, by
providing free education Malaysia would join the ranks of many other countries such as
Argentina, France, Norway, Brazil and Germany. The provision of free education would
greatly help liberate low-income households and empower them to take on lucrative
occupations, thus breaking the poverty cycle and helping to improve income inequality.
Levelling the playing field allows for a more equitable distribution of income as more
segments of the populace gain a chance at high-paying jobs. The implementation of such a
policy may be burdensome at first, but the eventual benefits gained from the increased
capabilities of the labour force far outweigh these initial costs. In the long run, the
improvement of the labour force may even be a catalyst for more rapid growth as
productivity of the labour force is amplified. This creation of a new generation of intellectual
Malaysians will surely enable Malaysia to leap advance onto the next level as a competitive
player on the global stage. With the multitude of positive spillover effects from education, it
thus becomes the prerogative of the government to provide and encourage the consumption
of this merit good for the benefit of all.
Salaries of M’sians went up by 5.3% in 2015
May 27, 2016
In 2015, the mean monthly salary and wage of employees with tertiary education was
RM3,854 and those with secondary schooling was at RM1,743

PUTRAJAYA: The mean monthly salary and wage of Malaysians increased by 5.3% to
RM2,312 in 2015 from RM2,193 the year before, said the Malaysian Statistics
Department.

In a statement issued here today, it said the median monthly salary and wage of
Malaysians last year rose by 6.5% to RM1,600 compared to RM1,500 in 2014.

The statistics were the findings of the Salary and Wage Survey conducted by the
department this year through the household approach to obtain information on the
monthly salaries and wages for paid employees in the public and private sectors from
their principal occupation.

The survey, which was conducted with probability sampling, also found that the mean
monthly salary and wage for male employees was RM2,345, which was higher than that
of female employees at RM2,254.

However, the median monthly salary and wage for male and female employees was
unchanged at RM1,600. The median monthly salary and wage for the men increased by
5.7% and 6.5% for women, compared to the previous year.

According to the survey report, the monthly salary and wage of employees with tertiary
education was twice higher than that of employees with secondary school education in
2014 and 2015

In 2015, the median monthly salary and wage of employees with tertiary education was
RM3,100 compared to those with secondary school education at RM1,500, while the
mean monthly salary and wage of employees with tertiary education was RM3,854 and
secondary schooling at RM1,743.

Employees with primary education recorded median monthly salary and wage of
RM1,100 and mean at RM1,224.

The monthly salaries and wages of employees in the urban areas were higher compared
to that in the rural areas. However, in terms of growth, the figures were higher in the
rural areas than in the urban areas.
According to the report, the median monthly salary and wage of employees in the urban
areas rose 3.0% to RM1,855, while in the rural areas it grew by 8.7% to RM1,200.

The mean monthly salary and wage of employees also recorded an increase of 5.9% in
the urban areas and 6.1% in the rural areas.

The report stated that the number of paid employees recorded in 2015 was 10.2 million.

The Salary and Wage Survey Report is an annual publication which presents the main
indicators of salaries and wages which are the median and mean monthly, by
demographic and socio-economic characteristics of sex, age group, educational
attainment, highest certificate obtained, urban and rural strata, occupation and industry.

– BERNAMA