Muniraa Abu Bakar — Photo from Facebook/Muniraa Abu Bakar
KUCHING (Sept 29): The recent cases of high scorers being rejected by local universities has raised questions over the criteria for admissions, said Parti Bangsa Malaysia (PBM) Young Women’s Wing chief Muniraa Abu Bakar.
She called for public universities and the relevant authorities to make all University Central Unit (UPU) applications more transparent so students are informed why they were unsuccessful in securing a place.
“PBM 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.
“We refer to an incident that went viral on social media recently where a Mechanical Engineering Diploma holder from Sultan Haji Ahmad Shah Polytechnic, Kuantan in 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 the applications from high scorers are rejected by local public universities, but readily accepted by foreign universities,” she said.
She cited reports over the years claiming there are over two million Malaysians 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 said.
Muniraa stressed this situation is greatly troubling and warrants immediate attention.
“We cannot afford to be losing high achievers to other nations just because of some faults in our local admission system. PBM urges those concerned to immediately look into this and come up with a workable solution before more local talents are wasted,” she said.