LETTER | I would like to pose the following questions to Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek regarding the admission of Indian students into the much sought-after matriculation programme.
Recently, she stated that the intake of 1,537 Indian students into the programme for this year far exceeded their quota.
However, can Fadhlina answer the following questions:
What was the total number of Chinese and Indian students enrolled on the matriculation programme?
What was the number of Chinese students enrolled?
What was the total number of students - Malays, Chinese, Indians, and others – enrolled for the programme in 2025?
If the number of Indian admissions exceeded their quota in 2025, what then is the actual quota set for Indian and Chinese students?
Can Fadhlina provide a breakdown of student admissions into the matriculation programme over the last 10 years?
I understand that under the administration of former prime minister Najib Abdul Razak, the admission of Indian students was about 2,500.
If this were the case, then it would be more appropriate to say that Indians exceeded their quota, whatever the quota was, under Najib’s tenure.
Therefore, on what basis can Fadhlina claim that Indian students’ enrolment into the matriculation programme exceeded the quota for this year?
Opaque system
Despite the stated 90:10 admission ratio between Malays and Chinese/Indian students in the matriculation programme, the policy seems shrouded in mystery and politics.
Apart from the controversial allocation for Chinese and Indian students, the admission criteria remain unclear.
As I understand, Indian students are required to obtain a very high number of As before they can be enrolled on the matriculation programme.
Meanwhile, the high ratio for Malay students is justified on the principle of affirmative action - where students from rural areas are given priority.
If this is the case, why can’t Indian students be given the same advantage based on the universally accepted principle of affirmative action?
Just like Malays, Indians from rural areas and economically disadvantaged backgrounds also deserve greater access to the matriculation programme under less stringent requirements.
Finally, given the system of multiple pathways into universities, isn’t it time for public universities to also consider the suitability of A-level qualifications as an alternative pre-university entry requirement?
The writer is a retired UKM professor, former deputy chief minister II of Penang and is currently the interim chairperson of Urimai.
The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.
