Harapan MPs to raise 'meritocracy' issue in Parliament committee

 

Two government backbenchers pledged to keep raising the lack of meritocracy in the education system through their roles in the parliamentary committee on higher education.

Chow Yu Hui (Pakatan Harapan-Raub) and P Prabakaran (Harapan-Batu) cited recent figures on offers made to Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) holders to further their education in critical courses.

Specifically, Chow (above, centre) quoted Deputy Higher Education Minister Yusof Apdal’s written answer to his question, dated Nov 6, that only two STPM holders were offered their preferred dentistry course through applications via the UPUOnline system in the last three years.

“Based on the statistics, not a single STPM leaver in 2021 succeeded in their applications to further their studies in the dentistry field,” Chow said at a joint press conference with Royal Education Award winner Nahvin Muthusamy at the Parliament lobby.

Subsequently, one student each was offered enrolment into dentistry courses for the academic sessions 2022/2023 and 2023/2024, according to the written reply.

Fierce competition

For STPM leavers who applied to study medicine, 10 offers were made for the 2021/2022 academic session, 13 in 2022/2023, and 16 in 2023/2024.

“We have the higher education (parliamentary) committee and so we will bring the statistics to be discussed,” said Chow.

He noted that the alternative path to higher education via the matriculation system still retains a 90 percent quota for bumiputera.

Additionally, because matriculation students are given priority for popular courses in public universities, there is fierce competition among SPM top scorers for matriculation spots, he added.

“In principle, even though racial quotas at public universities were abolished 20 years ago, a matriculation system that relies on the racial quota still provides ‘unfair advantage’ and leads to ‘structural violence’,” said Chow.

Similarly, Prabakaran also said failure by the government to address the issue will further erode the confidence of non-bumiputera youths.

“There must be reforms made to the education system based on meritocracy,” he added.

Meanwhile, Nahvin, whose speech during his graduation ceremony from Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka went viral, reiterated the importance of structural reforms to the country’s higher education system.

He also narrated difficulties faced by non-bumiputera students to secure a place to pursue their preferred courses in public universities, despite excelling in their STPM examinations. - Mkini