Denying opportunities to top scorers a disservice to the nation

THE recent case of Edward Wong Yi Xian, an STPM top scorer with a perfect CGPA of 4.0 whose application to pursue an accounting course was rejected, has again highlighted the troubling lack of fairness and transparency in our public higher education admission system.

Despite excelling in all his subjects, scoring 9.9/10 in co-curricular activities and clearly demonstrating passion for accounting, he was rejected by six universities, including Universiti Malaya (UM). Instead, he was offered management studies at Universiti Sains Malaysia, his fifth choice.

Wong’s situation echoes a long line of similar cases, some of which have been highlighted by the media.

> In 2014, Ng Li Ying, a straight-A STPM student from Klang, applied to nine public universities for medicine, dentistry or pharmacy, but was only offered nursing. Ironically, she received an offer for pharmacy at Monash University in Australia.

> This year, other top scorers with near-perfect STPM results were rejected for their first-choice courses via UPU (Unit Pusat Universiti) but were then offered placement through the Satu (open channel) pathway at costs running up to RM500,000.

> In 2022, a student with a CGPA of 3.95 said he received zero offers through UPU while being accepted by three British universities via UCAS (Universities and Colleges Admissions Service).

These cases reveal that STPM students, who go through one of the most rigorous pre-university routes in the world, are repeatedly sidelined in favour of other admission pathways such as matriculation or foundation studies. Online forums like Reddit abound with students pointing out that STPM students face an uneven playing field, as matriculation grades are perceived to be “inflated”.

This raises a fundamental question: Is our system truly transparent, consistent and fair?

Education is a fundamental and constitutional right. That right must include not only access to higher education but also the right to pursue a field of study based on merit and eligibility. When top achievers like Wong and others are denied their rightful opportunities, the credibility of the system comes into question.

UPU and the Higher Education Ministry must act diligently, fairly and transparently. Admission processes must be open to scrutiny, ensuring that excellence is rewarded rather than punished.

Denying opportunities to our best and brightest is not only unjust to them individually but also a disservice to the nation.

K. KUNASEKARAN

Ipoh