Malaysia is still closing the door to education for disabled students

EVERY year, when the public universities’ admission filtering agency UPU (Unit Pengambilan Universiti) updates its system, those of us in civil society and NGOs serving OKUs (disabled) brace ourselves for the flood of panicked pleas from disabled students desperate to pursue higher education yet denied their rightful course choices because of arbitrary and discriminatory restrictions imposed on them. Despite repeated assurances from the Higher Education Ministry that this issue has been resolved, it continues to resurface, leaving students traumatised and their futures jeopardised.

This is not a new problem. From as far back as the 1970s disabled students have raised concerns about exclusionary practices in Malaysia’s education system. As understanding and recognition of disability has grown over the decades, our systems have unfortunately not caught up in terms of accessibility.