PETALING JAYA: It is time for public universities and the relevant authorities make all University Central Unit (UPU) applications more transparent so students are informed why they were unsuccessful in securing a place, Parti Bangsa Malaysia’s Muniraa Abu Bakar said.
The party’s women’s wing chief said there have been a number of recent cases where high scorers were not accepted into local public universities, raising questions over the criteria for admissions.
“Parti Bangsa Malaysia strongly feels the rejection of these high scorers with no specified reasons is highly demoralising and also contributes greatly to the brain drain in the country,” she said in a statement today.
PBM refers to an incident that went viral on social media recently where a Mechanical Engineering Diploma holder from Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Polytechnic, Kuantan, Pahang, managed to get a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 3.95, but failed to get a place to continue his degree at a reputable local university.
However, like in many other cases also, his application on the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) portal showed offers from two universities in the UK for three courses.
“It is ironic how local public universities reject the applications from high scorers, but readily accepted by foreign universities,” she added.
According to reports, over the years, over two million Malaysians are living and working abroad, many of whom are professionals.
“PBM believes one reason for this is because many students were unable to secure places in local public universities, forcing them to pursue their education overseas. Once there, many were likely offered jobs upon completing their studies and have since continued living there.
“However, only students with strong financial backgrounds are fortunate enough to be able to pursue their studies abroad or at local private universities. What happens to students who do not have the means but have excellent scores and have been rejected by local public universities? These students find themselves being forced into employment after being left with no other choice,” she added.
The country cannot afford to be losing high achievers to other nations just because of some faults in our local admission system, she said.
