Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's latest intrusion into university micro management - tougher admission requirements for Malays dubbed meritrokrasi - does not deserve a passing grade.

The meritrokrasi plan is flawed for many reasons. First, the situation of Malay students in our universities is the culmination of various problems that started much earlier in our school system. Fiddling with quotas or admission criteria will do little to address those root causes.

Second, Mahathir judges merit as unidimensional: the SPM scores. He proposes stiffening the requirements from 7As to 8As. Why not 9As?

Judging a student solely on the basis of one final examination is risky. American colleges recognise that grades alone are not an adequate predictor. Thus they look at the applicant's course selections, extracurricular activities, exemplary achievements, and extenuating personal circumstances. Applicants also have to write personal essays to assess, among other things, their writing skills. A perfect score is no guarantee of admission.

I would take a student with a B or even a C in calculus over one with an A in 'consumer maths.' Intuitively, one can also be easily persuaded that a fisherman's son with 7As has a far greater potential than a doctor's son with 8As. Mahathir however, would have SPM scores be the determining factor. That is what I find distressing.

The University of California (UC) System, America's best, is radically changing its admission policy from relying heavily on grades of standardised tests (e.g. the SAT) to the overall performances of students as judged by their cumulative Grade Point Average (GPA).

Unlike SAT scores, the GPA is a continuous evaluation throughout high school careers rather than a snapshot assessment. For many, it is a much better predictor. UC is also proposing to accept the top five percent from each school.

Highly selective American universities look beyond SAT scores and GPAs. In addition to personal essays, candidates are also interviewed. Thus for Malaysian universities to rely solely on the SPM is unwise. There are simply no studies that have evaluated the predictability or reliability of SPM; no published research to evaluate its internal consistency and reproducibility.

Revamp entire system

In short, the SPM itself has not been rigorously tested. The Examinations Syndicate does not even have qualified statisticians to undertake such studies. We accept SPM simply on trust.

Yet the prime minister wants to rely exclusively on this utterly untested criterion. I have seen too many examples of Malaysians who excelled at the SPM only to bomb at American universities - enough for me to question the reliability of that test.

There are numerous studies to indicate that the best predictor of success in college and also later on in life (as measured by earning power) is not the overall scores but achievements in mathematics and English. Yet our schools are not emphasising these subjects enough.

Tinkering with the admissions criteria is attacking the wrong problem. The difficulties faced by Malay students begin much earlier. Visit the typical Malay school: overcrowded classes, demoralised teachers, inadequate textbooks and an overburdened curriculum. Even more telling, many Malays now are taking their children away from such schools.

Useless discussions on university quotas unfortunately distract attention from the more pressing problems of our schools. Our first priority should be to revamp the entire system. And we must begin at the very beginning - preschool.

I am reminded of my youthful experience in helping my grandfather clear a clogged stream prior to rice-planting. First, we would go to the headwaters and remove the debris and reeds that block the flow. Once the stream was established at the source, the momentum of the water flow would help clear the flotsam downstream. This flow would also soften the stream bed, making it easier to widen or alter the channel.

So it is with our clogged school system. If we can better prepare our pupils at preschool, they would do well at the primary level, which in turn would make them ready for high school. And good high school students make good undergraduates. Tampering with university admissions is putting the cart before the horse.

Make the rich pay

Unfortunately, preschools are available mainly in major cities only whereas the need is most acute in rural areas and poor neighborhoods. These children need the most intervention. Enrichment programmes at this level reap the greatest dividends.

In addition to providing a playful and stimulating environment, these preschools must also have nutritional and health services. These children are at high risk because of poverty and other deprivations. America's Head Start initiative provides health, nutritional, and social services for needy pupils right through middle school. By providing these services, problems can be detected early before they deteriorate and interfere with learning and development.

Jocelyn Elders, a former US surgeon-general, observed that you cannot educate a child who is not healthy and you cannot keep an uneducated child healthy. We may also find that by providing these ancillary services, parents may well keep their children at school, thus reducing our shamefully high dropout rates.

Our extensive residential schools consume an inordinate amount of resources. Precious funds are diverted just to feed and house the students rather than to academic pursuits. Get rid of these expensive schools and revert back to the limited hostel system for outstation students.

If we have to have these elite schools, then make the well-to-do pay for the full costs and divert the extra funds to our day schools. I see no reason why the rich should get a free ride.

Gary Becker, the American Nobel laureate in economics, suggested that we pay parents to keep their children in school. This was tried in Latin America with remarkable success. In economic terms, paying to keep children in school is a much better investment than letting them drop out only to become criminals and unproductive citizens.

Severe handicap

Before fiddling with university quotas, I would first make sure that preschools are widely available. Then I would get rid of quotas in the teaching profession at all levels. Get the best teachers and professors. If we cannot find them locally, recruit from abroad. Upgrade their qualifications. The primary function of the teaching profession is to prepare our students well; it is not a public works program for Malays.

All schools should have well-trained English, science, and mathematics teachers. Revamp the curriculum to concentrate on these three major subjects. All others, including religious studies, should be electives.

Malay students do not excel at university because of their limited English proficiency. They cannot avail themselves to vast resources and limit themselves only to works in Malay - a severe handicap.

Similarly, low mathematical competency holds our students back. In practically all disciplines, mathematics is essential. In America, calculus is a prerequisite for medical students as well as for social science majors. Thus instead of quibbling between 7As and 8As, we should make superior achievements in English and mathematics prerequisites.

By paying more attention to our schools and making sure that our students get well-equipped classrooms, the best teachers and appropriate curriculum, we would find that we could dispense with quotas at our universities.