FMT:
10As requirement for
matriculation spots unfair,
says MCA man
MCA Youth spokesman Ong Chee Siang says SPM students did not know of the latest matriculation requirement in advance.
KUALA LUMPUR: MCA Youth has questioned a matriculation policy that it claims discriminates against students who sat for fewer than 10 subjects in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) examination.
Last Sunday, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that those who scored 10As and above in the examination would be guaranteed a spot in matriculation colleges starting with the 2025 intake, regardless of race or background.
Anwar later explained that the decision was aimed at reducing tensions in the education system.
At a press conference here today, MCA Youth spokesman Ong Chee Siang said the policy put students who had registered to sit for fewer than 10 subjects in the SPM examination at a disadvantage.
“What about the students with nine, eight or seven subjects? It’s unfair to them.”
Ong also claimed the latest policy seemed to disregard the “merit points” awarded to students for taking part in extracurricular activities that would be used to assess their eligibility for a spot in a matriculation college.
10As won’t benefit Indian students, say NGOs
At a separate event, a coalition of NGOs known as Agamam Ani Malaysia said the 10As requirement will not benefit Indian students as not many students sit for 10 SPM subjects.
The group’s chairman, Arun Dorasamy, also called on the government to allocate 2,500 seats, which account for 5.6% of the total matriculation seats, specifically for Indian students.
He said only 1,116 seats were provided to Indian students in matriculation colleges last year.
When announcing the 10As policy last Sunday, Anwar said the existing Bumiputera quota for the matriculation programme would not be affected. He said that while meritocracy was important, there was still a need to avoid putting marginalised and poor communities at a disadvantage.
The prime minister said it was unfair to expect students from underprivileged backgrounds to compete on equal terms with those from well-equipped urban schools.
Racial quotas on admission to public universities were abolished in 2002. However, matriculation colleges maintain a 90% quota for Bumiputeras, while certain foundation courses are exclusively for Bumiputeras.
No comments:
Post a Comment