MIC president S Samy Vellu should take immediate steps to arrest declining numbers in Indian student intake into public universities under the merit-based system, said DAP leader Lim Kit Siang today.

"Samy Vellu should speak up during the cabinet meeting tomorrow to call for an end to the inequitable merit-based university entrance system," he said in a statement.

MIC is the largest and oldest Indian-based party in the ruling coalition.

Flawed system

Lim told Samy Vellu to convince the government to replace the two-year-old system, which took over from the quota system introduced under the1970 New Economy Policy.

There should be a fairer and competitive system that is based o­n a common university entrance examination, he said.

Such a system should allow for 80 percent of places in universities to be filled based o­n merit and the remaining 20 percent o­n need, he added.

This is not the first time Lim is calling for a change in the university admissions system. He has often said that a common entrance system would be more appropriate in ensuring that o­nly deserving candidates are allocated places.

His contention is that the current system is flawed because it involves comparing results obtained through different examination systems - STPM, matriculation and other equivalent examinations.

This view is also supported by many academicians.

Last Friday, the Education Ministry announced its intake figures for this year's academic session, which begins next month.

Although the percentage of bumiputra students has dropped against last year's intake, the actual number has increased because more places have been offered for the new academic year.

Similarly, the number of seats allocated for Indian and Chinese students has been increased.

Under the old quota system, 55 percent of places were reserved for bumiputera students in public universities, while Chinese and Indian students were allocated 35 and 10 percent respectively.

Fears come true

Last year, Samy Vellu ( left ) had complained that the number of Indian students benefitting from the merit-based system was much lower than that under the quota-based system.

Under last year's intake, o­nly 4.7 percent of places were allocated for Indian students, a big drop from the minimum 7.8 percent provided for under the quota-based system.

Samy Vellu had said this confirmed his worst fears about the merit-based system - that the Indian community was not ready for it. He said its weak socio-economic background meant that the community needed more time to prepare for a changeover to the new system.

Samy Vellu, who is also works minister, had asked the government to give special consideration to Indian students by allowing their university admission to be administered under the previous system.

The MIC passed a special resolution at its annual general assembly last year urging the government to review the merit system.

'Political mileage'

However Lim noted that both Samy Vellu and the MIC have been quiet this year, even though the Indian student intake is much lower that what would have been granted under the quota system.

"Could it be because the announcement of last year's intake came before the MIC general assembly whereas this year, the numbers were released after the general assembly (held o­n May 10-11) and party elections - and (therefore) there was no immediate political mileage to be gained?" asked Lim.

Lim added that if Samy Vellu was concerned about the number of Indian students entering public universities, he must raise the matter for discussion at tomorrow's cabinet meeting.