THE government said there was a need to gatekeep Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) entry only for Bumiputera due to a socioeconomic disparity with the non-Bumiputera.
According to Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir, a report from the Bumiputera economic congress earlier this year necessitated that the university continue catering to the community to improve their socioeconomic status.
Speaking in Parliament, Zambry said the report indicated that economic disparities remained in terms of average monthly income, corporate equity ownership, poverty rates, skilled labour output and professional qualifications.
“In fact, the absolute poverty rate among Bumiputera still needs continuous efforts to see improvement,” he added.
“Therefore, maintaining the UiTM policy for the Malays, Orang Asli and the people of Sabah and Sarawak is still needed in an effort to realise the government’s wishes in bridging the gap between races.”
Zambry was responding to a query from Bukit Gelugor MP Ramkarpal Singh on whether the government would amend the UiTM Act to open admissions to the non-Bumiputera.
In a follow-up question, Ramkarpal further questioned if other institutions would be offering cardiothoracic surgery postgraduate programmes that non-Bumiputera can enrol in to address the shortage in the field.
To this, Zambry responded that the issue is expected to be resolved by October, adding that Universiti Malaya (UM) would “hopefully” obtain the necessary approval for a cardiothoracic surgery course by then.
“The ministry is trying its best to find the best approach to resolve this issue. A discussion has also been held with UM and UM Medical Centre for the programme to be offered at the university,” he told the lower house.
“God willing, we are expecting UM to offer this programme by October so that those who want to pursue this programme can do so there. (And) subsequently, it will be followed by other universities.”
Presently, UiTM is the only university offering a cardiothoracic surgery programme in collaboration with the National Heart Institute, but UiTM is only open to Bumiputera. – June 26, 2024
Main pic credit: FMT
