Some 400 disgruntled students and their families today protested outside the Works Ministry building in Kuala Lumpur calling on Works Minister and MIC president S Samy Vellu to resolve the disputed meritocracy system for university intake.

In their memorandum addressed to Samy, the protestors said, "The recent intake into public universities has caused great concern among the Indians in this country.

The memorandum was handed to Samy's private secretary N Sellathurai by the students' representatives, K Sasikumar, K Davindran, L Chandrasekar and R Sivakumar.

"In the past Indians have secured about eight percent of the available seats. However there is a drastic drop this year to 4.7 percent and only 1,530 of the total 2,537 qualified applicants were given places in public universities."

The memorandum added that the government must give special consideration to Indian Malaysian students due to their socio-economic background and their financial inability to pursue their education through private channels.

It said that Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's assurance that the system will be reviewed in the near future was welcomed

"However, we appeal to the government to take steps in addressing the current predicament of more than 1,000 students who have been rejected," the memorandum added.

During the two-hour protest which started at 11am, the crowd carried placards which read, "Wipe the tears from our parents faces" and "Datuk Seri Samy, please help us".

Not political

At a press conference later, Sasikumar stressed that the memorandum was not connected to any non-governmental organisations or political groups.

"This is strictly a public effort and we do not want things to be complicated with politics," he said.

The idea for a merit-based intake was suggested by Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad last July and implemented this year, much to the discontent of various quarters.

One of the main detractors was MIC. The party claimed the move would limit the chances of Indian Malaysian students gaining entry into public universities which cost less than a private education.

During its recent annual general meeting, delegates adopted a special resolution urging the government to review the move but Mahathir stressed that the system will remain.

Poor family

Meanwhile, two Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) students, who were among those present today, expressed unhappiness over their failure to gain entry into universities.

According to S Tinagaran, he was prompted to take the STPM on the encouragement of his family but was disappointed when he was not given a place.

"I come from a poor family which is why I took the STPM and I thought that my future would have been better," said the student who wants to study human resource management.

However, Tinagaran said he was appealing the decision and hoped he would be given a seat.

N Mohandas said he chose STPM as it cost less to study in a public university compared with a private institution.

"It was better when we had the quota system as our entry would have been guaranteed. We are all very disappointed," he said.

In a related development, MIC Youth expressed regret that many well-qualified applicants were denied entry into public universities.

In a press statement, the wing called on the authorities to explain the minimum entry requirements that are enforced by the authorities for entry into the programmes.

Of the total enrolment of 32,752 students in the country's 17 public universities and university colleges, bumiputra comprised 22,557 (68.9 percent), Chinese Malaysians, 8,665 (26.4 percent) and Indian Malaysians 1,530 (4.7 percent), Higher Education Department director Prof Hassan Said revealed in a press conference three weeks ago. It is not known how many other Malaysians gained entry.