Since independence, education has traditionally had a high political priority in Malaysia. The Malaysian government has been highly interventionist as it has sought to utilise education as a means of achieving economic and social development under the direction of the National Council on Higher Education (Lee, 2002a). Education regularly receives over 24% of the annual budget and all Malaysian Prime Ministers have served a term as Minister of Education (GETIS, 2000). The current literacy rate in Malaysia stands at 97% (Studymalaysia.com, 2002).