PARLIAMENT | A backbencher debating the royal address has sought further clarification from the Higher Education Ministry on the implications of a policy allowing students from non-government schools to sit only for the Bahasa Malaysia and History SPM papers.
Chow Yu Hui (Harapan-Raub) said that public universities, as part of their general entry requirements for Malaysian students, still require a minimum of five SPM credits.
This includes Chinese Independent School students who sat for their Unified Examination Certificate (UEC) examination.
“The question is clear: If UEC students are only allowed to sit for two SPM subjects, do they in fact meet the general entry requirements for public universities?
“If not, then recognising the UEC in its current form risks being an incomplete recognition, and UEC students would still face institutional barriers,” he said.
“Therefore, I would like to urge the Higher Education Ministry to provide a clearer and more comprehensive explanation regarding the position of UEC holders within the framework of the General Entry Requirements for public universities,” said Chow.
On Saturday, Transport Minister Anthony Loke said the Education Ministry will amend its policy to allow students from non-government schools to sit only for Bahasa Malaysia and History papers for SPM.
The DAP secretary-general said that all non-government school students, including Chinese independent schools, international schools, and religious schools, who obtain credit in Bahasa Malaysia and pass History will be eligible to apply for admission to public universities.
‘China students can enter, why can’t Chinese Malaysians?’
Chow today suggested that the government could place the UEC as a pre-university qualification category equivalent to other international qualifications, such as the International Baccalaureate (IB), A-Levels, Australian Matriculation, or even university entrance examinations from other countries.
“Today, many public universities in our country admit students from China who have never sat for Bahasa Malaysia and History in SPM.
“Yet the question that arises is this: why are Malaysian citizens who have followed the UEC curriculum and at the same time sat for SPM examinations in Bahasa Malaysia and History still finding it difficult to gain admission into public universities through the direct intake pathway?” he said.
“From a policy logic standpoint, this situation is difficult to justify.
“If international students without Bahasa Malaysia and History qualifications can be admitted, then it is unreasonable for local students who have fulfilled the Bahasa Malaysia and History requirements to continue facing barriers,” he said.
Chow added that current realities have revealed that the real issue is not the academic capability of UEC students, but rather the ambiguity and inconsistency in university admission policies.
STPM, matriculation inequality
At the same time, Chow said larger reforms are also needed in the overall university admission system, which he argued remains “unequal” between STPM leavers and matriculation graduates.
“Therefore, the government needs to consider a bolder and more strategic reform - namely, merging STPM and matriculation into a single new pre-university examination system.
“I propose that the government establish a standardised national examination system, which could be known as the ‘New STPM’.
“This system should have the same academic standards, a transparent assessment structure, and an equivalent level of difficulty for all students, regardless of their school background,” he said.
He further suggested that the new system incorporate a “Socioeconomic Bonus Mark” for underprivileged students, with the overall aim of eliminating the perception that the matriculation pathway is “easier” than STPM.
‘We are losing out on talent’
Separately, Howard Lee (Harapan-Ipoh Timur) also supported expanding the number of admission pathways to public universities.
“To me, this is an added injection not only of manpower but of talent into our public universities,” he said in his debate of the royal address.
“Moreover, if students from international schools and UEC are instead admitted by universities abroad, as has been the case in the past and continues today, then who loses? We do.
“They are the crème de la crème of our country. If we open admissions with the (reduced) SPM requirement, that is added value for us,” he said. - Mkini
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