A HEADLINE on a new policy of student admission into the matriculation programme caught me in a moment of disbelief or surprise while I was returning to Penang from Kuala Lumpur last night (June 30).
I told myself that this cannot be true knowing that Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim would in no way dismantle the racist system of student admission to the pre-university matriculation programme.
As I still could not believe my eyes knowing Anwar, I read further his statement on the social media.
Sure enough, Anwar was not dismantling the quota-based system of admission into the matriculation programme but merely announced the Cabinet’s decision that students irrespective of race would be admitted into the controversial matriculation programme provided they obtain 10As and above.
However, before the ultra-nationalists could re-group, Anwar was quick to re-assert the point that the government would not tamper with the present racial quota of 90% for Bumiputera and 10% for non-Bumiputera, basically the Chinese and Indians.
False hope
I am sure with the Sungai Bakap polls round the corner (Saturdays, July 6), Pakatan Harapan (PH)-led coalition leaders and their supporters would go to town – or literally, paint the town red – with Anwar’s latest “heroic” announcement.
While the present 90% quota for Bumiputera might potentially address the nature of inequality in their society – provided of course the principle of affirmative action is embedded in the policy – the miserable 10% might hardly reduce the gap between the rich and poor in among the non-Bumiputera community.
With the new admission policy of students with 10As and above, there is no place for students coming from socially and economically disadvantaged communities like the Indians.
Essentially, the new intake system catering to the highly qualified students from all ethnic communities might end up accentuating the divide between the rich and the poor.
It will affirm the generally accepted axiom that education is not an equaliser but arena of opportunity that breeds inequality.
The carrot of admitting SPM students with 10As or more might be superficially appealing to the non-Malays long accustomed to the nefarious quota system of pre-university admission in the form of the matriculation programme.
However, the stark fact of racial discrimination in pre-university education will engulf whatever changes that might be progressive superficially.
Misleading headlines
The question of the Madani government’s dismantling the racist quota system of entry does not arise even if Anwar popularises the idea of student admission on the basis of merit.
The system might be implemented soon although the devil is in the details. I believe that if the political concession given to the students with excellent SPM qualifications impairs the established quota system of admission, it will be done away.
At the end of the day, what Malaysia needs is dismantling the of the race-based quota system not just for the matriculation programme but also for admission into public universities and colleges.
If the government is not bold enough to provide the special admission of non-Malay students to Universiti Technology MARA (UiTM) for the cardiac thoracic post-graduate programme, the slow but sure dismantling of the racist system of entry into the matriculation programme seems unlikely in the near future.
With Anwar very much immersed in political populism, the country lacks the crucial leadership vision.
Catchy headlines are very misleading in the country. I am glad that I went beyond the attractive headlines to know the actual content of the news story yesterday (June 30).
One thing is certain in the country under Anwar’s leadership: there will be talks of reforms but hardly any implementation of reforms.
The new admission policy for the matriculation programme is just another populist measure devoid of rectifying the unjust and unfair education policy in the country entrenched in race and religion. – July 1, 2024
Former DAP stalwart and Penang chief minister II Prof Ramasamy Palanisamy is chairman of the United Rights of Malaysian Party (Urimai) interim council.
The views expressed are solely of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Focus Malaysia.
Mian image credit: Anwar Ibrahim Facebook
