He said there were places available at public universities every year, including about 5,000 seats in science.
“The additional 15,000 seats, through the matriculation programme will not affect the chances of STPM holders as there are about 40,000 available seats,” he told the Dewan Rakyat today.
He said this in his reply to a supplementary question from Santhara Kumar (PH-Segamat) who wanted to know whether STPM students will face difficulty getting placements at public universities due to the increase in number of matriculation students.
Maszlee said admission to public universities was not only through the STPM and matriculation programme. There are other routes as well, including the universities’ very own diploma and foundation programmes.
In April, the Cabinet decided to increase the ministry’s matriculation programme student intake from 25,000 to 40,000. The quota for 90% Bumiputera and 10% non-Bumiputera students was maintained.
Responding to the original question of priorities between STPM holders and matriculation programme students for admission to public universities, Maszlee said the ministry had practised meritocracy in the students’ admission system since the 2002/2003 session, regardless of categories, based on 90% academic performance and 10% co-curricular achievements.
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