Unveiling the deceptive charade: Illegal Malaysian school peddles false Canadian curriculum for years

SHAH ALAM – In the shadows of Malaysia’s education landscape, lurks an audacious private school that has been operating illegally for over two years, cunningly offering a dubious curriculum that it claimed was of Canadian origin.

In a public-aided investigation trailing back since 2021, the first red flag from this school rose following a correspondence with the Ontario Ministry of Education which debunked its claim of having authority to teach the Canadian International Matriculation Programme (CIMP).

In an email response – of which its full content could not disclosed in its entirety due to legal reasons – Ontario clarified that only a single school in Malaysia was authorised to offer CIMP adding that there were only 19 international schools that do so outside of Canada.

And on top of that, it was also pointed out that there is currently a moratorium on applicants for new international schools that wish to have an agreement with the Ontario ministry.

At press time, the moratorium has yet to be lifted, meaning that for now, there are no new international schools outside of Canada are under agreement with Ontario and given the authority to offer the CIMP curriculum.

A check with Ontario’s official website which listed the accredited international schools across the globe double confirmed that the number of said education institutions still stand at 19.

However, the school continued to operate flawlessly since its inception and has been a frequent face at a number of private education fairs in Malaysia.

Now this led to the rise of the school’s second red flag.

A search from the Malaysian Education Ministry’s (MOE) database on all registered private schools revealed nothing. The school was not listed in the database, with sources from the ministry confirming that the school has been operating illegally.

“Enforcement actions will be taken against the institution for providing educational services without approval,” said the source in August 2021.

Despite the assurance of punitive actions, it was business as usual for the school, so much so that the talk among those in the know remarked as if it is being shielded by hidden hands in the powers that be.

But because complaints continue to mount, sources disclosed that in June 2022, the MOE received a confirmation via email from the Ontario Ministry of Education that the school was indeed not authorised to teach CIMP in Malaysia.

The plot thickens in November 2022 as Malaysia was a few days shy of ushering its 15th General Election, the school’s name suddenly appeared in the MOE database – a feat that essentially legitimised its operations.

Nonetheless, in December, following another round of inquiry, the Ontario Ministry of Education repeated its previous answer that – despite the recent operational greenlight by the MOE – the school was still not under agreement with them to offer CIMP education.

When such contradiction was escalated to MOE, the school had its registration revoked and its name was no longer searchable in the ministry’s database.

Apparently, none of that seemed to matter as always, it has been business as usual for the school.

In July 2023, the local council responsible for the school’s area was notified of the latter’s lack of legal compliance but noted that the closure of the school cannot be done until they obtain the needed go-ahead from the MOE.

Posing as a keen parent, when absence of the school’s name in MOE’s database was mentioned, the school’s principal was livid and abrasive.

“Who do you think you are!? I will answer only to the minister!” the principal yelled in anger and hung up the phone.

And that was the third red flag.

Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek has been informed of the matter, she however has yet to respond at the time of writing.