SELECTION PROCESS SHOULD BE TRANSPARENT

THE 2019-2020 Education Ministry’s Matriculation programme intake, released on April 15, left many Indian Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia high achievers and their parents disenchanted when their applications were turned down.

With little knowledge on the evaluation process and criteria, parents were quick to blame the ministry which facilitated the selection process.

So much for meritocracy, when a string of As cannot secure a spot and no explanation is given.

Firstly, in the era of big data, it is appalling to note that there are no available statistics by the ministry on the application and intake numbers.

Last year, Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said 4,068 matriculation seats were offered to non-Bumiputeras.

For the 2018/2019 session, 84,891 applications were received, including 20,040 applications from non-Bumiputera students.

It is baffling to note that with a total of 28,000 seats, the number would make up 14.5 per cent, higher than the allocated 10 per cent.

The lack of statistical analysis has caused many parties to doubt

the intention of the government to create healthy competition while strengthening national integration and racial unity.

Such a practice is irreconcilable with our national philosophy for a transparent, corruption-free and fair government.

The Education Ministry and Department of Statistics should clarify the intakes of matriculation colleges by disclosing the application, evaluation and rejection process.

My communication with former deputy education minister Datuk P. Kamalanathan revealed that only 105 Indian students attained places in 2009.

The number increased substantially to 1,400 in the 2015/2016 intake.

Despite the increase, it is implausible that the number of seats filled did not match the offers.

In 2012, only 900 out of 1,500 matriculation seats offered to Indian students were filled.

In 2013, 6,185 Indian students applied for the 1,500 matriculaion places but only 892 students took up the offer. If the Indians fought for more seats, why discard it then?

This leads to the second factor. The matriculation programme offers an affordable path to local universities, especially for students from the B40 income group.

A quick check on the current matriculation application process revealed that the information on the household income was not validated with an official pay slip or income tax details.

This shows that the selection criteria did not put enough importance on prioritising applicants from B40 households.

The distribution of seats to economically less-deserving Indians is a waste as it leads to abandoned seats.

Affordability allows these students to leave their seats in cases of overseas education opportunities. Therefore, serious consideration must be given to household income in the selection process.

Matriculation students are given a monthly RM250 allowance with minimal course fees of RM499 per year.

One should not be deprived of the opportunity for quality education due to curtailment of ethnic-based policies and racial politics.