The Malaysian government has recently undertaken a voucher experiment aimed at leveling the education playing field between wealthy and underprivileged students. According to the New Straits Times, the plan's goal is creation of a "social market" in which "parents will be empowered by choice . . . and schools will be freed to compete on quality when they would otherwise rest easy on assured government largesse." Unlike most U.S. voucher plans, but somewhat akin to NCLB's "supplemental services" provision, Malaysia's program is designed to be used by needy parents of primary school students to send their children to "tuition classes" (similar to private after-school tutoring programs). The program is currently in a pilot phase, but supporters of this limited free market approach to education are already calling for the program's expansion to include secondary students.
"Vouchering for education," New Straits Times, June 14, 2004
"Tuition vouchers plan pays off," by Sheridan Mahavera, Hamzah Jamaludin and Roy Goh, New Straits Times, June 13, 2004