The decision by the Ministry of Education to restrict SPM forecast results from being used to enter pre-university courses has received criticism from DAP. The move is perceived as unfair to students who wish to pursue higher learning in private institutions.
Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming has urged the government to withdraw the condition imposed.
SPM forecast results refer to how students fare in the trial papers leading up to the national examination which is used by students to further their education in private institutions.
“By disallowing SPM forecast results from being used as entry into pre-university and foundation programs, the Ministry is unfairly punishing students who want to enrol in programs in private colleges and universities,” said Ong Kian Ming in a statement today.
He said that the majority of students who apply with their forecast results intend to enroll in private colleges and universities in January while awaiting SPM results. The academic calendar of pre-university and foundation programs are planned with respect to the intake dates of overseas universities.
“For example, for those wanting to pursue a degree in Australia, the Australian Matriculation program being offered in places in Sunway College start in January and is completed within 8 to 10 months so that these results can be used by students to apply and enter Australian universities at the start of the following year in January,” Ong said.
He gave the example of those who planned to further their studies in the United Kingdom who would take the one and a half year A levels program that starts in January so that they could obtain entry into the UK university in September or October the following year.
The announcement by the government would force students to wait three months until the release of SPM results at the end of March and undergo a compressed 15 month foundation program as opposed to 18 months. Students would then be delayed by one year, he said.
He also said that in the event of SPM paper leaks, students would have to wait even longer due to the restrictions on forecast results usage, which has a higher difficulty level than the SPM exam.
“As long as no valid reasons are given by the Ministry of Education, this new restriction should be immediately withdrawn,” Ong said.
Tertiary education has long been a sensitive issue in multiracial Malaysia, with an alarming lopsided divide in terms of racial balance in public and private institutions of higher learning.
A news report by Free Malaysia Today estimates that as many as 90 percent of students in private universities are non-bumiputera, while 70 percent of public university students are bumiputera.
Traditionally, this racial divide in tertiary education gradually increased after the imposition of the racial quota for bumiputera students in local universities in the early 1970’s until it was replaced by the meritocracy system in 2002. -The Rocket
-The Rocket
