The quota system for Bumiputera students in higher education has always been debated. Despite calls for changes, it seems the system is set to be maintained for the foreseeable future.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim recently stated that the system needs to be maintained to balance the number of students from the community in institutions of higher learning (IPT).
He explained that if the system was not retained, it could cause an imbalance in the number of Malays in IPTs.
“There are some principles in the Constitution about guaranteeing opportunities for Malays and Bumiputera to be given placements so that they can better compete. We will maintain this.”
“If not, we will see the same disparity that occurred at the University of Malaya in the 1970s and 1960s, where in the engineering faculty, there were zero Malays, and only 12% in the medical faculty, so there was an effort by the late Ungku (Abdul) Aziz and the ministry at the time… to help the Malays so that they can better compete,“ he added.
This was all in response to a student’s question regarding the quota system and meritocracy in the current national education system during the ‘Temu Anwar Kedah’ programme at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) yesterday (June 8).
However, the PM clarified that having the quota system did not mean that meritocracy was dead and that if there were students from among non-Malay and Bumiputera who excel, the government must find ways to give them opportunities as well.
“I agree to retain this quota programme, but we have to find another way to give opportunities to smart non-Malay, non-Bumiputera children, whose results are good, so that they are not left out.”
Furthermore, he stressed that if the government took action to change the quota policy, it would cause tension and be turned into a political issue by certain parties and that is why he had instructed Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek for the system to be maintained.
Meanwhile, Anwar also said that Malaysia was among the countries with the best treatment of minority groups, but, he acknowledged that matters could be improved in that regard.
“There are other countries where the Muslim minority do not get a place at all, but let’s not use them as an example,“ he added.
What do you think of Anwar’s statements? Let us know in the comments.
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