I agree with DAP chief Lim Kit Siang in Hapuskan STPM dan Matrikulasi that we should end the endless meritocracy disputes. Even when in a single test, there is dispute about the marks. With two, the problem is doubled.

STPM is no doubt the tougher test. I took it to gain entry in a public university. Students taking the exam have to study five subjects, with two to three different application sections to each subject. That adds up to 12 to15 papers for the exam. Each paper is standardised and approved by experts in the field.

The exam is also tamper-proof as all the tests are taken during a specific period and there is tight security over the question and answer sheets. The examiners do not know whose papers they are marking to eliminate the human factor or sympathy marks. There were no assignments to take away some emphasis on the exam and arguments about the marks are usually fruitless.

On the other hand, the matriculation system is much more relaxed with three staggered tests for every paper taken. Assignments and sometimes group work also help 'distribute' the 'burden' on students. If you get only average marks on the first test, you can make it up on the second, and also the final tests. Also, test questions are usually not repeated. So, it is more segmentised and easier to score.

Questions are sometimes 'recycled' from previous years. Students who don't feel up to it can opt to take the test at a later date, with the lecturer's approval. Students could also dispute the marks and often win in their favour. All the 'distributed' and 'segmentised' test marks make the matriculation course much easier than STPM.

So, if Prof Dr Hassan Said (director of Higher Education Department) think that the matriculation students' results are being depressed according to the formulation used to calculate the merit point, then I suggest to him to scrap the matriculation course and just make do with STPM. Or else, he could suggest to the education minister to abolish the STPM in favour of matriculation, which according to Hassan is the harder admission examination. The standard of university graduates will surely increase.

There is also a third way of 'proving' meritocracy. Let students choose between STPM and matriculation, but all must sit for another common exam to determine a common level of competency. No one can then dispute the selection process or claim that one exam is more difficult than the other.

The point that needs to be stressed here is that Malaysia must produce quality and competitive graduates to support and enrich our country's economy to achieve the 2020 target. So, let's not waste time disputing something which is clearly unfair for all and with no solution in sight.

Something has to be done to address the higher education problem immediately before we find ourselves left far behind the move towards globalisation.