KUALA LUMPUR: Fix the deep-rooted inequities faced by Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) students compared to matriculation before it is too late, urges Sim Tze Tzin (PH-Bayan Baru).
Sim said the disparities between STPM and matriculation students in gaining entry to public universities had reached a shocking level despite STPM being regarded as the “gold standard” for pre-university education.
He noted that 16% of matriculation students achieved a perfect CGPA of 4.0, but only 3.09% of STPM students did the same, based on parliamentary replies he had received from the Higher Education Ministry.
According to Sim, this imbalance directly affects admission into highly competitive courses such as medicine, pharmacy, dentistry, and law.
He noted that in the 2023 intake, matriculation students made up a shocking 97.6% of intake for medical courses while only 2.39% went to STPM graduates.
He also revealed similar patterns were recorded for other professional courses like pharmacy (Matriculation-97.9%, STPM-2.1%), law (Matriculation-83.4%, STPM-16.6%), and dentistry (Matriculation-99.15%, STPM-0.85%).
“This means if you choose STPM, you are on a mission impossible for these top courses. You basically have less than a 3% chance to get into medicine, pharmacy, or dentistry,” Sim said in a press conference at Parliament on Thursday (Aug 14).
He also pointed out that matriculation requires only nine months to complete, while STPM takes 18 months, creating a “one country, but two vastly different pre-university systems.”
“Imagine two children — one gets into matriculation, the other into STPM. Their futures will be vastly different.
“Matriculation is essentially a superhighway to success, while STPM is a winding federal road,” he said.
Sim urged the government to review and reform the system to ensure fairer weightage for STPM graduates in the UPU intake process.
“They should consider merging the two pathways into a single equitable pre-university stream.
“STPM should be the first choice, not the last choice. We must empower STPM if we are serious about social mobility for the B40,” he added.
