I have asked the Minister of Higher Education to state whether the Ministry will replace the 2 university entry examination systems namely the STPM and matriculation with one single examination system for all Malaysian students who wish to further their study at public institutions. The question is slotted for today (14th May) but it was listed as Question 24 in the Order Paper which means there was no chance to be answered orally in the one and a half hour Q&A session. The answer is given in a written reply;
"Kementerian Penggajian Tinggi tidak bercadang untuk mengadakan peperiksaan yang sama untuk kemasukan ke universiti kerana sistem meritokrasi dan kepelbagaian kemasukan ke universiti yang diamalkan oleh Kementerian Penggajian Tinggi sekarang mampu menghasilkan graduan yang berkualiti. Ini kerana program STPM dan Matrikulasi mempunyai kandungan khusus dan hasil pembelajaran (learning outcomes) yang setara iaitu untuk menyediakan pelajar bagi memperoleh pengetahuan asas yang cukup sebelum memasuki program pengajian Ijazah Pertama"
There have been many debates on the subject in the past few years but the government refused to hear the many valid arguments. To say STPM and matriculation are of the same standard is like comparing an orange with an apple. I am sure everyone who have gone through the STPM route to further our studies in public universities will share my feeling on this matter. It is downright unfair! This is one factor that hinder genuine national unity among our citizens.
Although there is no change in the policy yet, i hope the debate will go on to press for changes and hopefully in the near future our children will not have to be differentiated to go to different examination halls just because their skin colours are different!
"Kementerian Penggajian Tinggi tidak bercadang untuk mengadakan peperiksaan yang sama untuk kemasukan ke universiti kerana sistem meritokrasi dan kepelbagaian kemasukan ke universiti yang diamalkan oleh Kementerian Penggajian Tinggi sekarang mampu menghasilkan graduan yang berkualiti. Ini kerana program STPM dan Matrikulasi mempunyai kandungan khusus dan hasil pembelajaran (learning outcomes) yang setara iaitu untuk menyediakan pelajar bagi memperoleh pengetahuan asas yang cukup sebelum memasuki program pengajian Ijazah Pertama"
There have been many debates on the subject in the past few years but the government refused to hear the many valid arguments. To say STPM and matriculation are of the same standard is like comparing an orange with an apple. I am sure everyone who have gone through the STPM route to further our studies in public universities will share my feeling on this matter. It is downright unfair! This is one factor that hinder genuine national unity among our citizens.
Although there is no change in the policy yet, i hope the debate will go on to press for changes and hopefully in the near future our children will not have to be differentiated to go to different examination halls just because their skin colours are different!
7 comments:
Dear YB Loke,
Well done and thank you highlighting issues on education. I feel we need to really push forward with serious education reform else will end up as rotten apples in the global economy.
DO keep it up!
K V Soon
here-n-there.blogspot.com
Dear YB,
I'm surprised this topic is still being discussed. I thought that it was a lost cause. Then again, with the new political shift, more things can be unearthed.
Thank you for remembering how hard STPM was and still is. I'm an STPM student and have heard many 'tales' of such topic. Though I can't verify it, I do agree with it. In my school, teachers always state this. 'By the time you're in Uni, it will be a breeze.'
I have had an interview recently, where the interviewer, a Dato who graduated from Matriculation questioned by drop of grades from staright A's in SPM to 1A and 3 B's in STPM. Being the bold and outspoken person I was I argued with him till he realised how silly his judgement is.
That made me think of what Maticulation students think of their course. Are they proud of it? Do they know where they stand in the world education level? Or are they as ignorant as the Dato to think that STPM and Maticulation hold the same weight?
Thank you very much for pursuing this matter. I know it's a touchy subject with the government, but I'm glad that it's not forgotten.
Dear Sir,
As your constituent and former Paulian myself I think that our education system still needs to do better. When compared to neighbouring Singapore we still lag far behind. What a disappointment!
I had gone through SPM & STPM. Despite getting much better results(Grade 1 and all Pricipal grades passed), than the Bumis, I still fail to go into the local U. Later I found out that those with SPM:
Grade 1 - full scholarship to Overseas U
Grade 2 - Local U with sponsorship
Grade 3 - Local Politechnics
Failed - Vocational / Mara
A Bumi friend who failed his Math and some other subjects, merely passed (7 & 8) his English and science paper respectively was offered a place in UKM - Computer science !! He said he didn't even asked for the course but was offered instead. Not sure if he did get through. If yes, I would be very surprise.
During my STPM, a friend with 2 principal passes, was even offered to read law in UM. What law ? Yes, this is true....
How devastated !! Why is Malaysia so unfair ??? No wonder we produce quantity instead of quality.
My parents has to saved and struggle just for my education and I will always treasure that. No scholarship or financial assistance.
Yes, perhaps my life change as I did not get what I want in life but I'll make sure my children will not have to go through what I have been through.
It's good that YB brought this up. Non-bumis has been discriminated for such a long time.
I do not have hard feelings against "others", its the Govt. politicians and their policy.
Can I have a vision of fairness and equality to all Malaysians ?
I wonder.....
screw the govt and their racial politics. I say get out of M'sia as soon as you can and migrate to other countries. I did and never regreted it.
It's a shame that after 50 years, the government of the day still practices policy along racial lines. Worse still, this type of racial discriminatory policy is being implemented across the full spectrum of our society.
If you study carefully on each issue, you will find that the root cause of all these problems is CORRUPTION.
In one way or another, corruption has caused the policy to deviate from it's original intention.
So, people, we must demand that the government take immediate action to establish an INDEPENDENT ACA to rid all these rampant corruption. With CORRUPTION in check, then we will see a more efficient society and hopefully a more just society.
COORUPTION - the MOTHER of all ills.
It's a sad to hear that, but its a truth.
STPM students have all along been discriminated..
Just look at the recent USM intake..
Most of those who were 'mistakenly' informed to be accepted into USM, are STPM students.
Sad enough, Many 4.0CGPA stpm students could not even get Pharmacy course in USM, while hundreds of Matrikulasi students secure places in Medic and Dentistry so easily, with an average CGPA of 3.++.
I went through STPM, we all learnt much more than those who studied only 8-9 months in a college to graduate as a pre U student.
Yet, we get lousy courses..
Medicine? Dentistry? they're hardly in the wishlist of STPM students nowadays as they know its nearly impossible to get even with perfect score...
Sad... It's a very sad thing...
Some people out there are pretending not to knwo what's the difference between STPM and matrikulasi, and constantly claim that Matrikulasi provide quality education.
Meritocracy or Racism?
Man, are we even living in a thirdworld country?
I wrote something about USM. Another foulplay...
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