Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim reiterated during the monthly gathering at the Prime Minister’s Department on Monday that the cabinet had decided to allow students scoring 10A’s and above in SPM to get admitted into Matrikulasi, as students’ SPM performance had improved over the years.

With that, any outstanding student can now gain access to Matrikulasi classes regardless of race or background.

The PM nevertheless said the latest decision would not affect the existing bumiputra quota system.

Anwar said the country’s existing bumi policy had often been magnified, adding that some indeed are inclined to negate the rights of the country’s minorities while others are sceptical about the policy of protecting underprivileged rural and urban poor bumiputras, as outlined in the Federal Constitution.

This time, the government has embraced a rather fair policy that not only protects the rights of bumi students, but also recognises the competency of well-performing non-bumi students in ensuring that all students scoring 10A’s and above in SPM can gain access to Matrikulasi unrestricted by their ethnic backgrounds.

The PM is of the view that this policy will help assuage the controversies arising from the fact that many 10A students have been denied entry to local matriculation colleges, a phenomenon which has persistently repeated itself year after year, and has been unfortunately politicised after being raised by elected reps, creating unnecessary interracial tension and jeopardising our hard-earned social harmony.

While ensuring the rights of all candidates scoring 10A’s and above in line with Article 153 of the Federal Constitution, the PM also said the government would press ahead with the existing bumiputra and quota systems.

He said while upholding the students’ ability and competence, equality must also be safeguarded. If we only emphasise academic performance, then marginalised and impoverished students would have no way to reverse their ill fates.

According to the PM, when financially well-off families can send their children to top-notched overseas abroad, and have their kids groomed into respected professional intellectuals, they will invariably defend the rights of people belonging to their own class. But then who is there to defend the rights of impoverished families and the marginalised masses?

The prime minister’s decision is poised to rewrite Malaysia’s education history!

Do our public universities have sufficient capacity to admit all students scoring 10A’s and above in SPM?

Higher Education Minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said there is absolutely no problem for this.

He said he would discuss this issue with Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek and would work closely with her to put the PM’s policy into effective implementation.

He also said this issue should not be politicised for the simple reason that bumiputra quotas will not be affected by the policy, which is a government gesture to recognise the efforts of diligent students, adding that these students could appeal to the education or higher education ministries in future if they do not get admitted into Matrikulasi.

Meanwhile, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said her ministry would echo the PM’s call to provide the opportunities for academically outstanding students irrespective of race or background, adding that the decision was meant to ensure that outstanding students and those from B40 low-income families would not be denied their chances of pursuing further studies in the country.

She also said her ministry would work with the higher education ministry to filter applications by students scoring at least 10A’s in SPM.

DAP Secretary-General and Transport Minster Anthony Loke said it was reassuring that PM Anwar had announced all students scoring at least 10A’s in SPM would automatically be admitted into Matrikulasi classes from this year. This shows that the Unity Government takes the future of outstanding students in this country very seriously, in line with the country’s expanding need for professionals to expedite the country’s economic and industrial development.

PKR’s MP for Bayan Baru Sim Tze Tzin said for so many years he had to help rejected outstanding students make appeals to the education ministry. And already he has written 79 such letters this year alone, according to him.

He wrote on Facebook: “I believe all loving parents said the same things to our children: If you study hard, score A, one day you can get into university. Me too. But what if the children work really hard, scored ALL A’s but still failed to make it into Matrikulasi? There is an injustice in the current system.”

We believe the number of vacancies is not an issue in Matrikulasi or even our local universities.

Indeed, we have more than 5,000 foreign students in each of our public universities, including UM and USM. The combined total is outright astounding, and therefore the issue of available positions for non-bumi students should not have existed in the first place.

There are no valid reasons for our universities to continue to open their arms wide to receive affluent foreign students but reject non-bumi students who have done well in their examinations. We cannot afford to let our talented students go elsewhere at a time we need them most right here!

In view of this, the PM’s timely announcement is epoch-making, as it allows outstanding non-bumi students to gain access to fairer education opportunities while catering to the needs of bumi students.

Initially designed exclusively to admit only bumi students, the government announced only in 2002 to open up 10% of quotas for Matrikulasi classes to non-bumi students, and this percentage has remained very much the same today.

Given the limited places, many outstanding non-bumi students have understandably been rejected every year.

In the meantime, Matrikulasi students have an edge over STPM students when it comes to admission into favourite courses in Malaysia’s public universities.

As a matter of fact, STPM is a tougher and lengthier programme compared to Matrikulasi, and this is extremely unfair to non-bumi students!

The prime minister’s decision is poised to rewrite Malaysia’s education history!