It is shameful that NEAC executive director Mustapha Mohamed is trying to deceive the international audience about Malaysia's discriminatory education system.

What merit does the 'merit-based system' have when different groups of students, divided along racial lines, sit for different types of examination?

Malay students, predominantly in matriculation centres, are assessed o­n class attendance, assignments, quizzes and tests; where standards vary from o­ne lecturer to another and from o­ne university to another. All this while non-Malay students sit the STPM examination whose standard is recognised worldwide.

In order for any system to claim merit, all students must sit the same examination and compete o­n the same grounds. If Malay students need further assistance, this should be implemented without self-deception.

A fair education system must also recognise that the disadvantaged also exist among non-Malay students