PETALING JAYA: The turmoil of SPM top scorers being left out of matriculation admission has resurfaced.
Eleven students who scored 10As were excluded despite a previous government pledge of providing entry for them, says MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong.
Dr Wee, who has been advocating for such students, has once again asked the government to fix the system and correct the oversight soon so that the affected students could secure their seats.
“Government leaders had promised that SPM 10A top scorers would be automatically admitted into the matriculation programme,” he said.
“Over the past two weeks, they confidently announced that 6,717 students who achieved 10A in the 2025 SPM would receive automatic offers.
“What went wrong? Isn’t an automatic mechanism supposed to be foolproof? How could such omissions happen?” he said in a statement yesterday.
In June last year, the Education Ministry said that all students who obtained 10As and above in the 2024 SPM examination would be granted a place in the matriculation programme, regardless of race and background.
The ministry had said then that the Cabinet had agreed to allow students with 10As and above, including A-, be given a place if they apply for the matriculation programme.
Yesterday, Dr Wee pointed out that the MCA Youth secretariat had received 11 complaints from 10A top scorers who were left out.
This had raised questions about this so-called “automatic” system, he said.
He said the complaints received by MCA Youth may only be the tip of the iceberg, as other political parties have also stepped in to assist students with appeals.
“Last year, I was pleased to see 260 top 10As students succeed in their appeals, and I was truly happy for them,” he said.
He also recalled last year’s controversy over whether A- was counted as an A.
“At that time, I was heavily criticised by many DAP leaders for ‘politicising’ the matriculation issue.
“However, the government eventually relented and upheld the original definition of 10A, which includes A+, A, and A-, and provided the necessary placements.
“So I call on the government to immediately admit the 11 affected SPM top students, as this was a Cabinet-level commitment.”
