Although various parties have highlighted the plight of students affected by the sharp drop in this year's local university intake, the Ministry of Education (MoE) continues to remain mum, said a PKR parliamentarian.
PKR Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin (left) asked why none of the federal ministers, including those in the MoE, are willing to take responsibility or own up to an existing "flawed" selection system.
He described as "serious and urgent" the cases of qualified students who are unable to gain entry into universities or obtain the appropriate courses.
He described these students as "victims of a non-transparent and questionable intake system".
"Even our MOE minister, who is Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, is silent on the issue," Sim said.
"The annual intake system is non-transparent, no one knows how it works!" he added.
Sim said the system needs a total and thorough revamp as nothing has changed for the last 30 years.
He urged for more intense public pressure to change the system, calling on affected students to be more pro-active in exposing their problems by publicly sharing their experiences.
"Fight for your future as no one will do it for you, don't remain victims," he told the students.
Sim said the situation seems urgent as PKR's effort in setting up the Higher Education Advisory and Complaint Portal (HEAP) to address the issue last Friday has attracted about 150 students - from various ethnic communities - in just two days.
Other PKR MPs involved in this effort include Rafizi Ramli (Pandan), Gooi Hsiao Leung (Alor Setar), Darell Leiking (Penampang), N Surendran (Padang Serai), Wong Chen (Kelana Jaya) and assemblymen Tan Kar Hing (Simpang Pulai), Lee Chean Chung (Semambu) and Simon Ooi Tze Min (Bakar Arang).
Sim said several students have agreed to come forward to share their experience.
Applied for law, given tourism instead
He cited the example of a bumiputera student who is qualified and applied for law and accountancy but instead was given tourism.
"He was very disappointed. Others were similarly qualified for law or accountancy and were offered heritage or tourism studies," he related, adding that these courses did not match with the students’ qualification.
"Unlike some parties which only highlight the plight of the students, we will take further steps to arrange for them to meet the relevant authorities at the MOE," he added.
However, Sim reminded students, whose applications were rejected, to submit their complaints to the ministry by Aug 22, Friday.
Sim's remarks come in the wake of a noticeable sharp drop in university intake this year, compared to last year.
He noted that in 2013, there were 68,702 applicants, 57,802 qualified students while the intake was 41,573 - 70 percent.
This year however, there were 74,0071 applicants, 67,388 students and 37,467 intake, or 55 percent.
"This means that about 30,000 who were qualified could not gain entry into universities. This is a serious problem," Sim said.
"Continue this trend and we will lose out completely in the global talent war as we are already losing out to developed countries like Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, United States and. United Kingdom," he added.
Sim said there are several factors which may contribute to the decrease in intake, including the institution's financial situation or its desire to improve its world ranking status by taking in more foreign students.
"It is learnt that certain universities also want to balance the number of student ratio between masters and undergraduate students.
"Whatever the reason, the MOE needs to tell us the real reasons behind the slash in intake this year. Please be transparent as we are curious of your selection methods," he added.
PKR Bayan Baru MP Sim Tze Tzin (left) asked why none of the federal ministers, including those in the MoE, are willing to take responsibility or own up to an existing "flawed" selection system.He described as "serious and urgent" the cases of qualified students who are unable to gain entry into universities or obtain the appropriate courses.
He described these students as "victims of a non-transparent and questionable intake system".
"Even our MOE minister, who is Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin, is silent on the issue," Sim said.
"The annual intake system is non-transparent, no one knows how it works!" he added.
Sim said the system needs a total and thorough revamp as nothing has changed for the last 30 years.
He urged for more intense public pressure to change the system, calling on affected students to be more pro-active in exposing their problems by publicly sharing their experiences.
"Fight for your future as no one will do it for you, don't remain victims," he told the students.
Sim said the situation seems urgent as PKR's effort in setting up the Higher Education Advisory and Complaint Portal (HEAP) to address the issue last Friday has attracted about 150 students - from various ethnic communities - in just two days.
Other PKR MPs involved in this effort include Rafizi Ramli (Pandan), Gooi Hsiao Leung (Alor Setar), Darell Leiking (Penampang), N Surendran (Padang Serai), Wong Chen (Kelana Jaya) and assemblymen Tan Kar Hing (Simpang Pulai), Lee Chean Chung (Semambu) and Simon Ooi Tze Min (Bakar Arang).
Sim said several students have agreed to come forward to share their experience.
Applied for law, given tourism instead
He cited the example of a bumiputera student who is qualified and applied for law and accountancy but instead was given tourism.
"He was very disappointed. Others were similarly qualified for law or accountancy and were offered heritage or tourism studies," he related, adding that these courses did not match with the students’ qualification."Unlike some parties which only highlight the plight of the students, we will take further steps to arrange for them to meet the relevant authorities at the MOE," he added.
However, Sim reminded students, whose applications were rejected, to submit their complaints to the ministry by Aug 22, Friday.
Sim's remarks come in the wake of a noticeable sharp drop in university intake this year, compared to last year.
He noted that in 2013, there were 68,702 applicants, 57,802 qualified students while the intake was 41,573 - 70 percent.
This year however, there were 74,0071 applicants, 67,388 students and 37,467 intake, or 55 percent."This means that about 30,000 who were qualified could not gain entry into universities. This is a serious problem," Sim said.
"Continue this trend and we will lose out completely in the global talent war as we are already losing out to developed countries like Singapore, Taiwan, Hong Kong, United States and. United Kingdom," he added.
Sim said there are several factors which may contribute to the decrease in intake, including the institution's financial situation or its desire to improve its world ranking status by taking in more foreign students.
"It is learnt that certain universities also want to balance the number of student ratio between masters and undergraduate students.
"Whatever the reason, the MOE needs to tell us the real reasons behind the slash in intake this year. Please be transparent as we are curious of your selection methods," he added.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.