a positive fertility factor; Catholic education at the college level and, to a lesser degree, at secondary school level is associated with a higher number of children, even when accounting for the confounding effect that higher religiosity leads to a higher probability of attending religious education. Asia Malaysia Catholic schools in Malaysia have been important to the county's formal education. Catholic schools have undergone many changes since independence in the late 50s and early 60s. The education policy in Malaysia is very centralized. In 1988, all Catholic religious brothers older than 55 were asked to retire with immediate effect, creating vacancies for lay teachers to take over. Any new brother wanting to join the teaching profession in Malaysia must be in the civil service and share the same status as lay teachers. Many Lasallian traditions such as inter-La Salle games or sports are now integrated into other more extensive government-funded programmes. With Islam being the state religion, compulsory or elective Bible lessons today are limited only to those of the Catholic faith. The missionaries who opened schools in Malaysia gave a solid education framework. Today, there are 68 Sisters of the Infant Jesus, 11 parish convents, and 46 La Salle Brothers schools in the country. Pakistan The Catholic Church in Pakistan is active in education, managing leading schools in addition to its spiritual work. The Catholic Church runs 534 schools, 53 hostels, 8 colleges, and 7 technical institutes, according to 2008 statistics. The Catholic Board of Education is the arm of the Catholic Church in Pakistan, responsible for education. Each diocese has its own board. The Government of Pakistan nationalised most church schools and colleges in Punjab and Sindh in 1972. Leading schools such as St Patrick's High School, Karachi, St Joseph's Convent School (Karachi) and St Michael's Convent School were never nationalised. The Government of Sindh oversaw a denationalization program from 1985 to 1995, and the Government of Punjab began a similar program in 1996. In 2001, the Federal Government and the courts ordered the provincial governments to complete the denationalization process. Philippines In the Philippines, private schools have been operated by the Catholic Church since the time of Spanish colonization. The Philippines is currently one of two predominantly Roman Catholic nations in Southeast Asia, the other being East Timor, with a 2004 study by UNESCO indicating that 83% of the population identify themselves as Catholics. The oldest existing