Profit-driven public education pathways leave STPM students behind

PUBLIC universities were established to develop national talent and are meant to provide all capable and hardworking students, especially those from low-income families, a fair chance to continue their studies through higher education pathways.

If these institutions start deviating into a more profit-driven model, they risk undermining their foundational mission and betraying their vital role in serving the public good through education.

Public universities’ core role lies in public support and governmental support; such as taxpayer money and separate government funding. As such, they are meant to assist students who achieve strong academic results, students that wish to advance into higher education but may not have the financial means to.

For example, many students who choose the STPM route are academically qualified, but were unable to enter the matriculation programme. A large percentage of them cannot afford the high fees charged by private universities, and instead rely on public universities.

For these students, public universities often represent their final opportunity to further their education.

However, public universities are now offering more student places through the direct intake system, particularly to students who are able to pay high tuition fees. This change is quietly pushing away many STPM students who have worked hard to earn a chance at these placements, but lose out due to the universities’ profit driven interests.

These students have already faced multiple challenges within the education system. Are we closing more doors for them solely because they cannot afford it?

Public universities are not meant to earn an overabundance of profit, and they should be prioritising high achieving students and offering them student places.

Based on the 2024 admission data from major public universities, almost no STPM students were admitted into high demand programmes such as medicine, dentistry, law, pharmacy and engineering.

This raises an important question: are public universities still here to develop and strengthen Malaysian talent, or have they become focused on generating profit for themselves instead?

For example, the total cost of completing a medical degree at a public university used to be about RM300,000. Today, it has risen to over RM500,000. This is even higher than the fees at some local private universities.

Other programmes, such as law, have also seen fee increases of between 20% and 30%. These changes have lead to serious doubts about whether public universities are still guided by the goal of educating Malaysians to create a better future.

While the direct intake system can be part of the university’s admission process, it should only be used if the total number of student placements and acceptance rates are increased. It should not reduce the number of spots available to students applying through the central UPU system.

The government must clearly redefine the purpose of public universities. To reemphasise, public universities should be prioritising the knowledge and development of high achieving and capable Malaysians.

They should not be focusing on attempting to increase profit margins. To add on to this, the government must also conduct a proper review of the direct intake system to ensure that it does not limit the opportunities for STPM students.

National education resources should benefit all groups in society, not just a small number of people at the top.

Access to education should be fair, not driven by money and profit. It’s meant to be a way for people to shape their future. But if even public universities start putting the interests of the wealthy first, where does that leave young people who are relying on their hard work and determination to achieve their dreams?

ONG CHEE SIANG

MCA Youth Education Consultative Committee Chairman