KUALA LUMPUR – Youth-based party Muda has made three proposals to improve the nation’s education system to become more accommodating and equitable.
Party president Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said that one of the proposals was to introduce an additional quota for B40 students in the education system’s admission process.
“Irrespective of your race, as long as you are from the poorer community, you must get priority (in university admissions),” he told a press conference today.
“The reality is that it is unfair for students coming from poorer families to not be given a placement, but children of rich families are.”
The Muar MP added that a K-12 model, with a single-point examination, was necessary, as the nation must steer towards international standards in the long term.
He also suggested a transition to a needs-based education model, which he said will ultimately prioritise Malay students, as children of farmers and fishermen are included in the eligible category.
Syed Saddiq pointed out that those in Putrajaya have championed a needs-based education system for decades.
He referred to an Al-Jazeera interview with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim in June, where he said that a needs-based policy will better help the Malays instead of race-based policies, noting that the latter had been “used by the elite and their cronies to benefit themselves”.
Advocating for the needs-based system, Syed Saddiq said it does not neglect the needs of youth who are underprivileged, living in rural areas, or who come from poorer backgrounds.
Anwar had cautioned during a town hall gathering at Kolej Matriculasi Pulau Pinang that the immediate abolition of the quota system in education cannot be done overnight, as it could potentially result in electoral setbacks for the unity government and be detrimental to the nation under a possible PN-PAS leadership.
However, the prime minister also said that the concept of meritocracy without fairness is flawed, as poorer students are often disadvantaged and do not have the means to compete with their more privileged peers.
Nonetheless, he said his administration will not dismiss assistance for any school, whether they are vernacular or use Bahasa Malaysia as their medium of instruction. – August 6, 2023