MARA: ONLY THE BEST WILL BE ACCEPTED

Mara will still prioritise academic results when picking students for its junior colleges

AINA NASA

AND QISTINA ATIKAH KUALA LUMPUR news@nst.com.my

MARA will not relax its entry requirements for Form One students who wish to enrol into its junior colleges. Maktab Rendah Sains Mara (MRSM) will continue prioritising academic achievement over other aspects as identified in the recently-announced Primary School Assessment Report (PSAR).

Mara Secondary Education Division director Kamaruzaman Jaffar said Mara, as an agency under the Rural and Regional Development Ministry, would not be taking the same route as boarding schools, which would now consider non-academic qualifications for Form One’s entrance.

Mara made clear to the New Straits Times that it would stick to its “tried and tested formula” of placing importance on academic results, used since its inception in 1972.

Its main prerequisite, the Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR), would hence, Kamaruzaman said, continue to be the deciding factor for a place at any of the 54 MRSMs nationwide.

This, he said, would mean that the minimum UPSR result that would be considered for placement was 3As and 3Bs for students in Peninsular Malaysia and 3As, 2Bs and 1C for those in Sabah and Sarawak.

“PPSR does not fall under the requirements for enrolment into MRSM. As long as there is no official announcement from the Education Ministry about a change in MRSM’s entry requirements, it is status quo,” Kamaruzaman said.

On Thursday, Education director-general Datuk Dr Amin Senin announced PPSR, a report comprising academic, physical, sports and co-curriculum, classroom and psychometric assessment of primary school pupils.

He had announced that boarding school applications would be accessible to more students as straight As no longer played a

huge role in deciding one’s enrolment into such institutions.

For MRSMs, however, the recipe of academics first remained the same.

According to Mara’s portal, applications for enrolment were opened on Sept 19 and closed on Oct 31.

Applicants could apply before the announcement of the UPSR results, the portal said, but acceptance depended heavily on UPSR results, in addition to a Special Entrance Exam.

Another requirement is that candidates must score As for

Mathematics and Science in UPSR.

As in previous years, priority will be given to applicants from low-income families in rural and urban areas. Other requirements include having a good character, health status and readiness to stay in hostels.

Applicants are required to sit for Online Self-Assessment tests in the given period.

Amin had previously said the ministry decided to apply assessment aspects for pupils to ensure their performance was not dependent on academics alone.