Ex-Penang Deputy CM Criticises Alleged New Special ‘Channel’ for T20 Students to Enrol into IPTAs

On December 25, the Committee of Vice Chancellors and Rectors of Public Universities (JKNCR UA) denied allegations that students were being admitted through “backdoor” methods, as reported by BERNAMA.

In response, former Penang Deputy Chief Minister II Prof Dr P. Ramasamy took to his Facebook page to address concerns over recent changes to public university admission policies while mentioning how he’s confident that there used to be a single, unified admission policy based on pre-university qualifications.

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The B40 and T20 categories were introduced

In a Facebook post, Ramasamy shared that students were mostly admitted based on academic merit, with quotas to help those from lower-income backgrounds.

“I served as an academic at the National University of Malaysia (UKM) for 25 years. While I was not directly involved in student admissions, I am certain there was a single, unified admission policy based on pre-university qualifications.”

He expressed surprise upon learning that the Committee for Vice-Chancellors and Vice-Rectors of public universities denied the existence of a “backdoor” entry system despite admitting to having a dual-channel approach.

“They have denied the existence of a “backdoor” entry system while simultaneously admitting that university admissions now operate through 2 distinct channels: one for B40 students (lower-income) and another for T20 students (upper-income),” he wrote.

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“Could the T20 category be for attracting funds from wealthy parents?”

Ramasamy then raises questions about when and why the previous universal admission policy was replaced and why special consideration is being given to T20 students.

“What remains puzzling is the rationale behind creating a special category for T20 students. Why are students from wealthy families given special admission consideration?”

He finds it strange that public university admissions, which have always focused on helping disadvantaged students, now seem to favour wealthy families (T20 students), potentially compromising the system’s fairness.

“Could the T20 category be aimed at attracting funding from wealthy parents? If so, this raises ethical concerns about the purpose and integrity of public university admissions,” he added.

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“A dual-tier system seems unnecessary”

The former Penang Deputy Chief Minister II also pointed out how the priority could easily fit into a single admission policy, making the dual-tier system unnecessary.

He also called out the Committee for Vice-Chancellors and Vice-Rectors for not properly answering the Kedah state assemblyman’s questions about the alleged backdoor entry system.

He wrote,

“My questions to the committee are: When was the universal admission policy replaced? Why was the T20 category introduced? And on what basis was special consideration given to T20 students?”

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