MCA Youth gets 173 appeals from rejected 10As students

KUALA LUMPUR: MCA Youth has received 173 appeals from Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students whose applications for admission into the matriculation programme were rejected.

“Among them, 69 students scored 10As. Shouldn’t these students be directly admitted?” questioned MCA Youth chief Ling Tian Soon at a press conference yesterday.

“Apart from that, four students took nine subjects and scored As. If they are not admitted to the matriculation programme, does it mean they will have no chance to enter local universities?” he asked.

Ling said that the government should allow SPM students who scored 9As in all their subjects to be placed in the matriculation programme.

He added that not every student opted for additional subjects, with nine often being the maximum.

“The Prime Minister announced that SPM students who scored at least 10As can appeal to enter matriculation or public university foundation programmes.

Ling called on the Education Ministry and Higher Education Ministry to clarify the details to ensure consistency between what is announced and what is implemented, to avoid discrepancies between policy and practice.

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the decision was reached after a Cabinet meeting last Friday.

“All of our children, when I say children, I mean Malay, Chinese, Indian, Dayak, Kadazan, and all without exception. If our children scored 10As and above or obtained excellent results, without any exception, they will get a place. This is an assurance from the government. As such, the issue of race should no longer arise,” Anwar had said.

MCA Youth Education Consultative Committee Chairman Ong Chee Siang questioned the matriculation policy, claiming it is unfair to students who sat for fewer than 10 subjects in the SPM examination.

“The policy puts students who registered to sit for fewer than 10 subjects at a disadvantage. What about the students with nine, eight, or seven subjects? It’s unfair to them,” Ong said.

Ong also claimed that the latest policy seemed to disregard the “merit points” awarded to students for participating in extracurricular activities, which are used to assess their eligibility for a spot in a matriculation college.

He also urged Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh’s office to quickly fill up matriculation places vacated by students pursuing other programmes.

“Based on past experiences, some students who are admitted to the programme do not accept the offer and choose other educational pathways instead. The Deputy Minister can monitor this and allocate those places to other qualified students,” he said.

Ong also mentioned that MCA Youth received 130 appeal cases last year, of which 40 were successfully admitted into programmes offered by local public universities.

On Tuesday, Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek said the results of the matriculation programme appeals will be announced on today.