THERE IS NO SHORT CUTS TO GAIN A QUALITY EDUCATION, INCREASING THE INTAKE FIGURE IS JUST INVITING MORE PROBLEMS.

A good write-up on the history, so-called solution and problems that would arise later on the matriculation programme intake, read below:

1.  Matriculation woes: Failure to address the elephant in the room

2.  Why quota system for matriculation studies was retained

3.  Regressive matriculation policy perpetuates discrimination

It need to be agreed that the actual idea to create this matriculation programme was to correct the imbalance of the Malay students who were classified weak and who fail to meet the examination standards to obtain their STPM so that they could pursue a university degree course.

Increasing the intake from 25,000 to 40,000 just adds to worsen the educational situation further.

It would have been easier to offer an additional 2 to 3 thousand places to the non-bumiputras to solve this issue.

Now more education institutions need to be opened up, lecturers recruited and many other incidentals to be borne by the taxpayers when the financial situation is in a critical situation.

This issue actually arose due to an PH election pledge that more educational places will be offered to non-Malays, especially Indians, who are now deemed to be the really backward class of citizens in Malaysia if PH regains Putrajaya. Knowing fairly well, the Education Ministry fail to address this intake issue with all the stakeholders. 

The previous UMNO/BN government had actually provided addition places for Indians after realizing the Indian issue and had agreed to increase this number for the preceding years to come so that the Indians could come in par with the other communities in Malaysia and would not be a "menace" to society any longer.

The Education Ministry to avoid criticism, quickly claimed that the previous intake of 2,200 Indian students and 1,000 Chinese students offered by UMNO/BN government last year was a one-off thing and further claimed that it was actually meant only for bumiputra students.

The matriculation course is much easier to pass and done within a year while STPM is more complicated and harder to pass and took one and a half years to complete. The matriculation programme is only recognized locally while the STPM is recognized internationally, equivalent to the GCE A levels.

Once these 40,000 students complete their studies, another major crisis will arise as to where to place them together with the STPM holders. - Mohd. Kamal Abdullah