Matriculation heartbreak has begun for SPM top-scorers

 

It’s that time of the year again when heartache awaits many Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students whose applications for a place in the 17 government institutions which offer seats for their matriculation programmes will be rejected.

It has been a yearly ritual for many frustrated top-scorers, especially from the Indian community, to go to the media or their Indian elected representatives to plead for help to get a place in the colleges after being rejected.

For some, this pain and agony will translate into anger that leads to harboured resentment against the government for a long time to come.

This sort of second-class treatment in education for those coming from tax-paying families may have been acceptable decades ago when the New Economic Policy was launched in 1971, but it has definitely outlived its purpose today.

Let’s look at the breakdown in the number of matriculation colleges. There are 12 located in the various states, two operated by Mara and three engineering institutions that are managed by the education ministry.

In total, the government offers about 40,000 places in these colleges, a figure that has remained from 2019. The unwritten policy practised is that 90% are reserved for bumiputera students and the rest for others. As for the two Mara colleges, it’s 100% for Bumiputeras.

For reasons best known to the government, it does not make the list public or offer to provide the breakdown according to race. This lack of transparency has been construed by many as the government having something to hide. You can’t blame them, can you?

For this year’s intake, the education ministry announced the selection of students last Thursday, and some of those rejected have already started reaching out to the politicians. They have until June 30 to submit their appeals.

According to Senator C Sivaraj, a former MIC youth chief, some students have started contacting him, sending him copies of their results. He said he was shocked to see those with nine and 11 As being rejected.

“What made me really upset is seeing one of them with 11As, including 8A+, being rejected, among others. The sad part is many of them are from average families. And some of them have classmates with much lower grades being offered seats,” he told FMT.

Since two years ago, the senator has been consistent in calling for more places for Indian students in these colleges. Recently, he urged the Madani government led by Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim to offer at least 2,000 seats for the Indians in line with its needs-based promise in the last general election manifesto.

He feels that no other community, be it Bumiputera or Chinese, will be against any move to increase the number of seats for Indians as they need serious upliftment to be on par with the others.

Normally, no details of the exact number of seats according to races are released but it is understood that the number last year was slightly more than 1,000 out of an estimated 8,000 eligible Indian applicants.

As we know, the one-year course is a much easier route to tertiary education in public universities compared to the tough Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM). And of course, the government-subsidised tuition fees in these universities are about 50% to 70% lower than what students pay in private colleges.

So, one can imagine the high expectations of the students, especially those from the lower income category families who would struggle to give their children tertiary education. Admittedly, the worst hit are students from the Indian community.

This is a reality that the government must face, and the education minister has a sacred duty to ensure no one is deprived of a rightful place in matriculation colleges if they have worked hard and obtained good results.

Minimal discrimination in education opportunities is the cornerstone of any progressive society. The United Nation’s Convention against Discrimination in Education reaffirms that access to all forms of education is a fundamental human right.

It highlights the obligations of all member states to ensure free and compulsory education, bans any form of discrimination and promotes equality of educational opportunity.

The 110 states that have ratified the convention are obliged to implement provisions in the convention, including higher education being equally accessible to all on the basis of individual capacity.

Unfortunately, Malaysia is yet to accept or ratify this meaningful convention. Knowing the politics of the country, it probably never will.

The least one can ask for then is that the government not deprive high-scoring individuals from any community, scholarships or places in government colleges based on the colour of their skin.

It’s an unforgivable sin, in my personal opinion. - FMT

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