Wee slams higher education ministry's ‘general' reply on varsity admissions
PETALING JAYA : MCA president Wee Ka Siong has criticised the higher education ministry for what he describes as a vague and inadequate response to his question in the Dewan Rakyat regarding the intake trend of top-performing STPM students and the expansion of open admission channels in public universities.
In a Facebook post, Wee said the ministry's written parliamentary reply required further clarification with detailed data.
'The ministry responded that the number of admissions for STPM or equivalent graduates for the 2018/2019 academic session was 4,530, while for the 2024/2025 academic session, it was 8,612, indicating an almost twofold increase (90.1%),' he said.
'The statement that the number of offers to STPM graduates has nearly doubled must be clearly broken down, as it does not distinguish between qualification categories and critical study programmes.
'Why was the data not detailed according to the qualification types as asked, namely STPM, matriculation, and foundation, as well as according to the programmes offered?'
Wee had asked the ministry to explain the trend in student intake through the UPUOnline system, in which the number of top-performing STPM students admitted has been significantly lower than matriculation and foundation students since 2018.
He also requested clarification on the lack of government funding that has forced public universities to cover the shortfall through open admission channels with higher tuition fees.
He questioned the ministry's explanation, that admissions through the open channel were based on the 'over and above' principle, and did not impact the UPUOnline mainstream intake.
'This is a general reply that also does not answer the question specifically,' he said. 'What is the actual number of seats allocated via the open channel for each academic session?'
Wee said the government needed to explain its claim that there was 'no compromise' in admission standards for the open channel system.
He took issue with the ministry's claim that the open channel reflected the financial independence of public universities, calling it a 'pro-elite policy'.
He said raising student fees through the open channel to boost revenue was neither sustainable nor fair, and that universities should instead focus on commercialising research and development outputs.
Wee said public concerns over the transparency and fairness of the intake system would continue if the ministry and public universities failed to disclose detailed admission data.
Last month, MCA urged the government to set up a royal commission of inquiry to review and reform the admission channels of all public universities.
Wee had then pointed out that several public universities had followed Universiti Malaya's lead in offering two enrolment options for undergraduate students – through the UPUOnline system managed by the higher education ministry, and an alternative open channel.
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