They had poured their hearts and souls into the course for 10 months. But their dream of securing a university degree had shattered in an instant.

The university has purportedly pinned the blame on them, leaving the two girls - one of whom scored a GPA of 3.64 after raking in four As and one B - pondering about their future.

On April 9, M Kalaavathi, 21 and B Nageswary, 22, were told by Universiti Selangor (Unisel) authorities that they could no longer proceed with the Industrial Psychology degree programme.

The reason for this is that the two, who were studying at the university's Batang Berjuntai campus, did not possess the necessary entry requirements with regards to their STPM results.

"If this was the case, why did the university accept them in the first place?" asked a perplexed MIC Youth education bureau chairperson Saravanan Munisamy.

"It is not an offence for a student to apply for a course she fancies. The onus is on the university to vet the application and determine if she is eligible or not," he told Malaysiakini today.

The MIC Youth education bureau, which is handling the case, will send a legal notice to Unisel via lawyer RT Rajah soon.

"We want the students to be fully reimbursed or be accepted into a foundation programme of the same course. Failing which, we will not hesitate to initiate legal action.

"The university has asked them to re-sit their STPM examinations and apply again.

"Even if they decide to do so, they have missed this year’s deadline and can only do it next year. More years will be wasted in this process," he pointed out.

According to Saravanan, who plans to raise the matter with the Education Ministry as well, the university had asked the students to sign a letter stating that they were voluntarily quitting the programme.

"If the university is not at fault, then why ask them to sign a letter like that?" he questioned.

Student files police report

While Kalaavathi refused to sign and has since filed a police report on the matter, Nageswary had inked the letter.

"I did not know what to do at the time," Nageswary told Malaysiakini . "I thought, they would pay back all the money but I have not received a single cent."

"For 10 months, nobody told us anything and we studied really hard. But then they informed us that we cannot continue. I really love this course. I feel lost now.

"If they had told us earlier, I could have tried some other university or college. But they blamed us, asking us why we applied in the first place. My family is also very sad," she said.

Saravanan said when he met Unisel student affairs vice-chancellor Prof Dr Anuar Ahmad last Tuesday, he was told the same thing.

"The university blamed the girls for applying when they were not qualified," he added.

Asked why they had applied, he said: "They came across the course on the internet and decided to give it a shot."

"They then went to the university and showed the people in charge all their qualifications and were accepted into the programme," he added.

Higher education loans

Saravanan also noted that the students had received PTPTN (government higher education) loans.

"Now they are forced to settle the loans with interest. These are not rich kids who have the privilege of just walking off to a private college," he said, adding that the incident has put the two students under much anxiety and pressure.

Meanwhile, Kalaavathi also expressed sadness and disappointment over the episode.

"My parents spent all their savings for me. Even they tried talking to the university authorities, but nothing could be done. We are all very sad that something like this happened," she said.

"All I want is for them to return my money, and then I will try my luck in applying to some other place," she added.

In her letter of complaint to the MIC Youth education bureau dated June 24, Kalaavathi claimed that she was "forced by the dean" to sign a letter stating that she was responsible for the matter.

"I also received a letter regarding the termination of my studies from Unisel. This letter stated that all payments will be reimbursed. But until now, I have not received anything," she added.

As for the PTPTN loan, Kalavaathi said she cannot continue her studies elsewhere because she needed to settle the loan first before she could apply for another.

"This problem is a result of Unisel's carelessness. I hope no other student will suffer a similar predicament," she added.

Despite numerous attempts, Unisel authorities could not be reached for comments.