PETALING JAYA: Despite two heartbreaking rejections, it is good news for two bright 9A+ students after they finally got offers to study matriculation in a college in Pahang.
The two students from SMK Tinggi St David in Melaka, Hiew Kai Xuan and Wang Yu Ze had earlier sought help from Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong who raised their plight.
The MCA president had received appeals from the straight 9A+ students with merit scores as high as 98.99 and 99.14 respectively but were rejected twice from the matriculation programme.
But the news of their acceptance had made Dr Wee happy as he continues to champion the matriculation issue.
“Just received fantastic news that two top scorers from Melaka — Wang Yu Ze and Hiew Kai Xuan, who achieved straight 9A+ in their SPM, have finally secured placements in the matriculation programme!
“After being rejected twice, they were informed yesterday that they’ve officially been offered spots at a matriculation college in Pahang.
“I’m truly delighted by this outcome and would like to extend my heartiest congratulations to Wang Yu Ze and Hiew Kai Xuan,” said the Ayer Hitam MP on his Facebook post on Saturday (July 12).
On July 4, Dr Wee, who has been at the forefront of highlighting the A- matriculation issue, pointed out that the students’ achievements reflected both intellectual brilliance and well-rounded character.
Both held leadership roles in school, actively contributed to co-curricular activities, represented their states at various levels, won a Gold Award at ITEX, and even emerged as second runner-up in the National Science and Mathematics Quiz, he added.
He had also mentioned that an unfruitful appeal was sent to Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh. He later called on the Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek to review the case of the two students while addressing the systemic flaw.
Dr Wee stated that students like them represented around 86% of applicants who took only nine subjects for their SPM exams.
He also called out the Education Minister for failing to account for or include this large group of high-achieving students.
On June 30 last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim announced that all students who obtained 10As and above in the SPM will be guaranteed a place in any matriculation programme regardless of race or locality
But it was too late for the students to register for the 10th subject in the examinations as the registration process was already over in early 2024, he said.
He added that he had constantly stressed that students who scored 9A+ should be given fair access to the matriculation programme as well.
Dr Wee said many students put their hard work to achieve the highest possible grades in every subject they took.
But at the same time, they were being punished for a technicality or weakness in the system they had no control over.
He questioned the government’s focus only on the 14% minority and neglected the majority of 86% applicants.
Dr Wee also shared a link to the stories of these two students which was highlighted in his previous post at: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1NHSgey2WG/?mibextid=wwXIfr.
