PUTRAJAYA, Jan 20 — Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the Ministry of Higher Education will take charge of the entire pre-university education system, including Form 6 and matriculation, starting from 2027.
He said pre-university students will now be considered part of higher education instead of school pupils.
“Form 6 and matriculation students will no longer be considered school pupils, they will now fall under the category of higher education,” he said during the launch of the National Education Blueprint 2026-2035 here.
He also said the move comes amid concerns over the limited availability of popular courses, particularly for minority students who have achieved excellent examination results but struggled to secure university places.
In response, he said the government has requested universities to add 1,500 new places in high-demand programmes.
“To ease the concerns of some students, priority has traditionally been given to matriculation and foundation students.
“However, Form 6 (STPM) students are also guaranteed priority admission, particularly those with a CGPA of 4.0.
“While course selection may sometimes depend on university capacity, every effort will be made to secure places for deserving students,” he added.
He said universities will also expand courses in law, accounting, finance and banking, Islamic finance, artificial intelligence (AI), economics, Malay, English, communication, media studies, data science, data analytics, and computer science, bringing the total increase to 3,000 places this year.
He then went on to say that students continue to face difficulties with accommodation, as available housing in and around cities is often too expensive.
“The government has instructed all government-linked investment companies (GLICs) to work with universities to develop student accommodation and give priority to student housing.
“Initial discussions have been held, and it is expected that the project will begin this year with selected universities,” Anwar said.
