KUALA LUMPUR, July 23 – Despite Putrajaya’s introduction of a merit-based university entry system in 2002, DAP’s Lim Kit Siang today said that it is in effect worse off than the initial race-based quota system.
Amid annual complaints of high-scoring students failing to get into local universities, Lim (picture) pointed to former deputy education minister Datuk Wee Ka Siong’s recent statement as amounting to a “public admission” of the alleged injustices of the meritocracy system.
“I commend Wee for finally making the public admission that the so-called “merit system” which replaced the quota system in 2002 was an even worse form of quota system in reality, resulting in the dropping of Chinese students to 19 per cent from more than 30 per cent in the early years, and the general drop in non-Malay students in the eight critical courses in public universities,” the DAP parliamentary leader said in a statement today.
Lim said that Wee, the MCA youth chief, had said that the number of Chinese students in eight major courses in public universities has been dropping over the years.
He listed the courses as medical, dentistry, law, accounting, pharmacy, electronics and electrical engineering and chemical engineering.
Lim today said he had previously suggested that local universities pick the bulk of their students based on the results of a uniform entry test, besides ensuring that a quarter of the seats go to those who are financially and socially disadvantaged.
“I had proposed a solution 11 years ago, the reform of pre-university admissions with a race-blind needs-based merit system with 75 per cent places based on merit and 25 per cent allotted to cater to the socio-economically backward students to people our public institutions of higher learning – based on a common university entrance examination.
“I again commend this proposal to the Cabinet and the Prime Minister,” said the Gelang Patah MP.
MORE TO COME
