Recently a survey by the global pollster found that Muslim men had most education, but also found that younger Muslim women in Malaysia are now more likely to have post secondary degrees compared to young Muslin men, as Muslim women globally close the gender gap.
The survery also said, in higher n higher education, the gender gap among Muslims has narrowed by 3 percentage points over generations.
Muslim men in Malaysia receive on average 10.6 years of formal education and significantly above the national average, compared to other male adherents like Buddhists (10.4 years), Hindus (10.3), Christians (9.6), and those unaffiliated to the four major faiths (8.2).
Similarly, Muslim women in Malaysia receive longer formal education at 9.8 years, compared to other female adherents like Buddhists (9.2 years), Hindus (9.1), Christians (8.4), and the unaffiliated (8.2).
The average period of schooling in Malaysia is 9.9 years — 10.4 years for men and 9.4 years for women.
The survey also said that Buddhists in Malaysia have have higher education compared to those in China and Nepal.
Globally, the survey showed that Jews are more highly educated than other major groups at 13.4 years, while Muslims and Hindus tend to have the fewest years of formal schooling, both at 5.6 years.
The survey said one of the factors is the location of the adherents, with most Jews living in the United States and Israel, economically developed countries with high levels of education.