More top scorers failed to obtain their preferred university courses ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Yesterday I highlighted the plight of two STPM top scorers who failed to obtain their favored courses at local public universities. Today’s Sin Chew Daily has reported that another three top scorers have also failed in their applications of their favored courses to the local public universities. Two of them are from SMJK Sam Tet, Ipoh. Both had obtained full As in their STPM examination. One was a state badminton player and another was a state table tennis player. The state badminton player’s first choice was UKM’s dentistry programme but she was offered nursing by Universiti Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS). Another’s first choice was UM’s medicine but he was offered Universiti Kelantan Malaysia’s veterinary programme. Both did not apply for these courses offered to them. The third student is from Bentung, Pahang .She had obtained the full score of 4.0 marks in her Matriculation examination and 98 marks for her co curricular activities. She applied for medicine in 8 public universities but was only offered nursing programme by UNIMAS. She lodged her plight with MP for Bentung Dato Liow Tong Lai. Liow was pictured with her in a photo that appeared in today’s Sin Chew Daily. As public universities will begin their new semester on September 1, the Education Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin must immediately investigate the complaints aired by the top students. I wish to remind Muhyiddin that a simple explanation such as “ there are limited places as the number of qualified applicants outnumbers the number of places “ will not suffice to dispel public suspicion that unfair selection does exist. He should ensure transparency and reveal in detail the selection criteria. If indeed these top students have been unsuccessful because of limited places and that others who have succeeded are better qualified than them, there should be no hesitation for the universities to be totally transparent. The government has spent huge sums via Talent Corp to encourage and attract talents to return from overseas to serve the nation, yet the issue of top students failing to obtain favored courses shows that our university intake does not reflect the “appreciate and retain talent” policy. The perennial issue of top students failing to get their favored courses must therefore be tackled immediately and from the policy perspective. When MCA has recently rejoined the Cabinet, MCA President Datuk Liow said that MCA has done so for the Chinese community. I don’t wish to touch on the question of the need for a Cabinet Minister to highlight a constituent’s plight via press conference though I think Liow should just bring the matter up directly with the Education Minister, but since it is obvious now that the issue of top scorers failing to obtain their favored university courses does not involve just one or two students and that it has been a perennial problem, MCA Ministers must raise the matter in the Cabinet to bring about a fair and transparent university intake system and policy that will not waste and reject the nation’s talents.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Aug 2014 07:16:08 +0000
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