‘Increased matriculation seats won’t affect intake of STPM holders in public varsities’

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PUTRAJAYA: The additional 15,000 seats for matriculation programme announced by the Cabinet recently will not affect the intake of Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM) holders in public universities.

Ministry of Education (MOE) in a statement yesterday said that it still practises meritocracy in student intake.

“Based on this principle, all qualified candidates with highest merit points, regardless of race, religion and background will be given an opportunity to pursue their studies in public universities,” the statement said.

Explaining further, MOE said qualified candidates must meet the general criteria and the special requirement of their selected programmes.

The selection of students to IPTA will depend on the merit score of 90 per cent of academic and 10 per cent of the co-curriculum score.

According to MOE, the academic score for both STPM and matriculation are based on the Cumulative Grade Point Average obtained by the candidate applying for a degree programme.

“The success of getting a place at a public university depends entirely on the candidate’s merit points and qualification, as well as the allocated places, not on the category of the candidate,” it said.

Besides, the ministry said the number of places available at universities will also depend on the university’s capacity and infrastructure.

MOE said the number of STPM holders accepted into public universities had increased to 4,242 (or by 21.07 per cent) over the past two years (2017-2018), while the number from matriculation programme also recorded an increase of 1,981 offers (10.83 per cent) for the academic year 2018/2019. — Bernama