KUALA LUMPUR, July 6 — The government must clarify its guarantee of matriculation spots for all 10A SPM scorers to prevent worsening the inequality or undermining the STPM examinations, said the University of Malaya Association of New Youth (Umany) student group today.

The group lauded Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim’s announcement on the matter as progressive, but said this must be supported with details to ensure it did not devolve into populism.

“Without abolishing the quota system (90:10) in the matriculation programme, is 10 per cent of the quota sufficient for all 10A students?” Umany asked, questioning if 10A requirement includes A+, A, and A- grades.

It also asked if the public universities would have the room and teaching resources to cope with the influx in new foundational students, as an increase in intake without adjusting the quota system would invariable result in higher numbers and fiercer competition for high-demand courses.

Umany also said the government must explain why 10A’s was set as the bar for automatic acceptance rather than the results of specific subjects such as Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Additional Mathematics that were the focus of science stream students.

Students from national secondary schools (SMK) also typically take nine subjects, meaning the announcement will unfairly exclude them, Umany said.

It then asked about the government’s plan for the STPM examinations as a result of the announcement, saying it had the effect of making the internationally-recognised upper secondary examination the last resort for public university entrance.

Citing data from the 2018/2019 academic year, it said 33,197 STPM students and 20,907 Matriculation students applied for university entrance, with 24,375 STPM students and 20,269 Matriculation students eventually admitted.

Umany said that if the number of Matriculation slots were to rise, STPM students would be placed at an even greater disadvantage.

https://www.malaymail.com/news/malaysia/2024/07/06/umany-pm-anwars-10a-policy-fails-to-address-admission-inequity/142877