No discrimination in entry to universities, says minister

 

Higher education minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said some students achieve excellent results but do not get their first-choice courses due to high competition. (Bernama pic)

IPOH: 

Admission to public universities is based on merit, particularly for highly sought-after courses, says higher education minister Zambry Abdul Kadir.

He said the lack of placements for students in public universities should not be turned into a racial or discriminatory issue.

“I have been informed that there is no discrimination in the admission of students. The basis is clear — if a student has achieved all A’s in their subjects, they will be offered a place,” he said.

However, Zambry said there were limited places for the most in-demand courses – medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry.

While the students’ examination results might qualify them for these programmes, other processes such as interviews must also be completed before their admission can be confirmed.

“Some have requested specific quotas for their community. However, for us, admission to these critical fields is strictly based on merit. There is no justification for favouring one ethnicity over another,” he said.

Zambry, who is Barisan Nasional secretary-general, was speaking to reporters after the close of the Perak BN convention today.

At the convention, Perak MIC chairman M Ramasamy said his party frequently received complaints about the lack of places for outstanding Indian students. He also raised the need to increase quotas for matriculation graduates.

In response, Zambry said the issue was not exclusive to the Indian community, as students of other ethnicities faced similar challenges.

“There are Malay students who face the same issue. Some achieve excellent results but do not get their first-choice courses due to high competition. The same applies to students from the Chinese, Kadazan, and Iban communities,” he said. - FMT