Get ready for the annual post-SPM heartache

 

It is that time of year when hundreds of thousands of parents will be filled with much anxiety. Their children have just obtained the results of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination which they sat for earlier this year.

Last week, a jubilant education ministry announced the 2022 SPM results, celebrating 10,109 candidates who scored straight ‘A’s in all subjects – beating the previous year’s number.

With this, the mad rush begins for places in matriculation colleges, Public Services Department (JPA) scholarships for studies locally and abroad, and places in teaching colleges. According to the JPA website, online applications for scholarships opened on Tuesday.

In its latest offer, JPA has made three prestigious scholarships available. One is for study in local universities for all courses except medicine, dentistry and pharmacy. However, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced on Sunday that those exceptions were still being reviewed.

The second one is for study at top colleges in the US, UK and Australia. The fields are engineering, science and technology, social sciences, political science, accountancy, economics, psychology and creative industries.

The third area of opportunity involves special programmes in Japan, South Korea and France for degrees in engineering, science and technology, and social sciences.

Students have until June 16 to submit their applications. All those meeting the minimum requirements will be called for an assessment or an interview from July 10 to 14, and will know their fate on Aug 4. That is when the heartache will begin for many students.

Many top scorers will face the stark reality of being eliminated by an unwritten racial quota which will suddenly come into play. Candidates who are unsuccessful or who fail to secure scholarships or seats for their course of choice will vent their frustrations on social media, and will inevitably touch on race and religion, stirring up primordial sentiments.

The government has declared that there are 40,000 seats for pre-university matriculation programmes across the country, 90% of which are reserved for Bumiputeras. Debate has long raged over the need to revise the quota to show a semblance of fairness, but to no avail.

Based on past experiences, not a year has gone by without complaints, mainly from top scorers who are either not selected at all or awarded scholarships for subjects they did not ask for and are not keen on. Governments of the past have done nothing to quell the anger.

Some of the main gripes are about those with lower grades being given scholarships of their choice or places in matriculation colleges while others with superior results are left in the lurch purely on grounds of race. Naturally, the unfair treatment sows resentment towards the government.

Affected students and parents I have spoken to in the past have never questioned the special privileges accorded to the Malays under the Federal Constitution. Over the years, non-Malays have kept always the peace as the government went about attempting to correct perceived imbalances in the country via positive discrimination.

However, this cannot be at the expense of merit, talent and deserving cases from the non-Bumiputera community. After all, these SPM leavers are also full-fledged citizens whose ancestors came here as far back as five generations ago and whose family members have through the years toiled and laboured in service of a nation they have always called their own.

The unfairness of the policy becomes even more apparent when we see students from wealthy Malay families being offered seats and scholarships at the expense of other poorer, and even more worthy, students.

With the advent of Malaysia Madani and given that the prime minister has repeatedly called for a needs-based, and not raced-based, approach to take Malaysia forward, dare we hope for this annual post-SPM heartache to be cured once and for all?

Or will the prime minister’s emphatic exhortations end up like the usual political balm only capable of easing our pain for the moment?

Admittedly, it is a tough call, but Anwar’s unity government owes it to Malaysians to find an equation that can correct racial imbalances without hurting any community for the long-term wellbeing of this nation. - FMT

The views expressed are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect those of MMKtT.