University Entrance: Something's Not Right...

I've only just written briefly on the university entrance statistics yesterday. My impression of this year's intake scenario is that the Ministry of Higher Education has taken some effort (at the very least from the public relations perspective) to minimise as far as possible the negative press which afflicts the ministry annually for the past few years. And I actually thought that they are moving somewhat in the right direction, albeit not at a speed I would have preferred.

However, certain reports I've read in the last two days may be seeding the clouds of doubt - that something is really wrong with the system. And I'm not just talking about the issues which have beend debated to death such as the "managed meritocracy" system we have.

I'm shocked to find out from Sdr Lim Kit Siang's blog post that a student who appears to be reasonably active in extra-curricular activities, who did very commendably with his SPM and STPM examinations (9A1s and 3As respectively) did not manage to secure a single spot in any of our public universities in any course! And he didn't even attempt to apply to the disproportionately popular medicine and pharmacy courses.

Contrary to what many commented as a "bumiputra vs non-bumiputra" issue on Sdr Lim's blog, I'm of the opinion that this travesty of academic justice has nothing to do with the "managed meritocracy" system we have which tends to favour matriculation students. The simple reason is that I've seen many many candidates with results poorer (of all races) who have been accepted into our local public universities, even the better ones such as Universiti Malaya (UM) or Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM).

I can only imagine that the student's failure to obtain a place in the local public universities has all to do with the failure of the Bahagian Pengurusan Kemasukan Pelajaran (BPKP), or formerly known as the Unit Pusat Universiti (UPU) in its admission processes. How else could someone with examination results such as above fail to secure any places in the local universities? In addition, I can only assume that the above candidate isn't the only candidate with such a predicament.

Not being a product of the local university system, I'm personally not familiar with the BPKP application and selection process. Maybe someone with in depth knowledge or experience with the existing system may share some ideas here as to how something like this can happen.

In the mean time, if the student (or anyone else in the same predicament) ever reads this blog, I can only advise him or her not to give up hope, and don't be swayed by the "many people" who claimed that the E-Rayuan process is futile. If you don't try, then you'd never be successful.

And for those who are not already aware, you can submit your appeal on your application here before 30th June. Good luck! :)