Chinese students to get 1,000 more places in matriculation programme

Education Minister Maszlee Malik says the additional places will be given to students from low-income families.

Education Minister Maszlee Malik says the government hopes to help qualified students from low-income families pursue their education. (Bernama pic)

PUTRAJAYA: Education Minister Maszlee Malik has announced an additional 1,000 places in the matriculation programme for Chinese students from low-income families.

The places for the 2018/2019 session will be offered to those who achieved excellent results in the SPM examination.

“For this session, we have received a total of 84,891 applications, including 20,040 applications from non-Bumiputera students.

“A total of 4,068 non-Bumiputera students have been offered a place in the matriculation colleges,” he said today.

Maszlee said the government would try to help all students to pursue their education, especially those from lower-income families.

Meanwhile, on a separate topic, he said the ministry had prepared guidelines to resolve the issue of heavy school bags following complaints from parents.

He said students should only bring the necessary learning materials to school while the teachers should give clear instructions to the students on what to bring.

“Schools need to arrange a timetable for only three to four subjects every day. The homework that students have to do at home should be reduced and if the work is not completed, it should be continued in the next class,” he said.

Maszlee said parents should also encourage their children to always check their books to match the timetable.

The minister also said he was looking into a recent incident where an individual had pretended to be his senior private secretary and contacted the Sarawak Miri District Education Office asking for information on schools requiring maintenance work.

“It was also said that the education minister would make a direct appointment of the contractor for the maintenance work.

“I take a serious view of the matter because it was an attempt to use my name for personal gain.” -FMT