I believe the Public Universities were established to recognise talented students and to accord opportunities to further advance their studies to eventually for nation to produce greater human capital development back home perhaps moving internationally as well.
Education is everyone's fundamental right that a responsible government should accord and uphold regardless of race primarily on a meritocracy basis.
Why meritocracy is critical particularly in subjects or courses, as you know, like medicine, engineering, law, accountancy perhaps can add on IT-related courses which require a certain level of intelligence and aptitude necessary to produce eventually highly talented students. This is paramount so a country can, continue, prosper and stay competitive in the respective fields at all times.
Any government should not deprive anyone, regardless of race, who did well in their education perhaps in sports as it is not only against humanity but also undermines the nation's growth. Excellence in education and sports is a path for many to come out of the poor entrenchment.
I can share a real story where about 3 years back, a student from a B40 family background, who had scored 11As in the SPM and 4 flats in the Matriculation applied for the Dietetic program to my surprise it was turned down by citing the reason that the student failed in the interview nonetheless appealed but no news. Ironically, the interview was very much personal background checking, and took about 5-7 minutes to kill the desire or ambition. My 2 cents question was this a fair assessment to determine a student’s suitability and capability versus what she had proved academically with about 18 years of sheer hard work and sacrifices? Literally, the government is killing the golden goose thus the patriotism as well Therefore such action will bring about severe negative consequences to the nation and has led to brain drain for decades.
Once upon a time, the same happened in India where people who did well in academics were deprived particularly those from humble backgrounds due to political bureaucracy and ethnic discrimination thus causing huge brain drains which stifled the country's growth and development. Now, the situation has changed dramatically in the last 2 decades or so due to fair and just education and political policies implemented by the BJP government under the helm of unprecedented prime minister Narendra Modi or better called as Modi Ji(Sir). Therefore, something to ponder by our government to enhance or fine-tune our public universities’ admissions system for a better future for the next generations.
We also understand the special privileges under the Article 153 of the constitution accorded to Bumiputera and, Sabah and Sarawak natives in various fields like education public services, etc essentially to be on par particularly on Chinese counterparts. This was one of the conditions agreed by the political leaders comprising Malay, Chinese and Indian races back then to secure independence from the British colonial rule. This was deliberated in the parliament that this privilege was granted via the New Economic Policy (NEP) to be reviewed after 20 years which has continued till today. I strongly lambast the government of the day for failing to achieve its objectives for more than 5 decades to uplift the Malays and natives due to incompetent and ineffective policies. It is a double-edged sword where such privileges will only foster laziness and an unproductive culture. There is a nice proverb, in Chinese, "He who asks is a fool for five minutes, but he who does not ask remains a fool forever".
It is evidently happening throughout the world including the USA where many immigrants have become highly successful whilst the locals take life easy. This privilege is being used extensively in the political arena as an easy tool for the unscrupulous political masters or leaders to win votes and to stay in power by narrating majority still needs government handouts and support. I sincerely hope such privilege(s) are accorded to those who have achieved a milestone in their pursuit. This will have a profound impact on both in social and economic development.
Another great example is China where they were before and now they are ranked 1st in GDP(PPP)nation in the world, deemed a superpower nation with great diversity economically, technologically and even in defence. Another words a country will prosper only by putting the right people for the right job will create impetus growths. The human capital which is central to innovation and new discoveries will create profound effect for the next generations.
After lengthy deliberations or views on the importance of education. The public universities' admissions system seriously need fine tuning by upholding transparency and fairness to our students.
1. Clear criteria should be published or make know in public domain of how the selection will be processed particularly the demanding courses. (Many know that the general criteria to get a place in public universities is where 90% weightage for academic and 10% for co-curricular but then there are other criteria that will be considered like household income, interview success and etc.)
2. The number of student excels, I believe, are getting more thus universities have to expand its seats availability to accommodate the increase, and giving fair chance or weightage to those who did well in the STPM.
3. Or else have a standard entry exam for courses in demand in particular universities. Instead of having interview which can be highly questionable.
4. Now, reduce foreign students intake so more locals get chance to pursue in public university.
5. UPU and SATU - there are cases where students are unsuccessful under UPU perhaps after the interview then can get seat via SATU by paying open market rate tuition fee which about ten times costly then those got place via UPU. This had created confusion for both students and parents.
6. Limit the choice of choosing the courses perhaps 3 to 4 so all get to study the courses that they really want. Otherwise it is a waste of public money to offer courses which they have no interest. This will only impede in producing talents in multiple fields of disciplines.
Last but not least wish the government including ministry of higher education will review the admission system to reflect fairness and sincerity in acknowledging the right students for the right or chosen courses for better Malaysia. Malaysia Boleh!!!
VK (vvivekmanu@gmail.com) is a content creator under the Newswav Creator programme, where you get to express yourself, be a citizen journalist, and at the same time monetize your content & reach millions of users on Newswav. Log in to creator.newswav.com and become a Newswav Creator now!
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