Stop discriminating non-Muslims in university intakes, slams MIC

Posted: 7:29 pm, July 13, 2013 by Themalaysiantimes.

 

KUALA LUMPUR, 13 July: The public university intake this year was the most unfair and biased recorded for the non-Muslim students, says MIC.
MIC treasurer-general Datuk Jaspal Singh, in a statement to The Malaysian Times (TMT),  said that the intake of Chinese students has dropped from an average of 25 per cent over the years to 19 per cent this year, while the intake of Indian students is equally bad standing at a miserable four per cent of the total 41,573 who were given places.

Datuk Jaspal Singh

“Why is the intake of Indian students only 1,800 this year? With the additional matriculation places, 3,000 Indians should have been given places in Public Universities,” he said.
Jaspal said students with 4.0 grade point averages were not given courses of their choice although only 442 of the 51,673 students who sat for the STPM last year achieved 4.0 CGPAs.
“These young students are the crème de la crème of the nation. We should ensure they receive the courses of their choice and that they stay in Malaysia to contribute to future nation-building.
“Instead the Ministry of Education crushes their dreams, destroys the hopes of their parents and confirms that it is pursuing the most vile  of policies,” he stressed.
“I received a call from a Mr.Baldev Singh, a staff in PDRM, whose daughter, Armeetaa Kaur, had been offered psychology instead of her choice of dentistry. Despite his meagre salary, Baldev ensured that his daughter had all that she needed to do well in her studies.

“The joy that his family felt when their daughter received a 4.0 flat for her matriculation is now gone. They cannot afford to send their daughter to a private university,” he said.

Jaspal said that the MIC’s Higher Education Bureau has received complaints from 10 students with 4.0 CGPAs who were not given courses of their choice.
“This discrimination against minorities must stop. The majority of Indians in Malaysia are poor.
“They sacrifice and go without to educate their children. And they are voters who heeded the PM’s exhortation to have ‘nambikei‘ (trust) in him,” Jaspal said.
Jaspal said that the issue of matriculation places for the Indian students was also equally contentious.
“The MIC fought to increase the number of seats from 300 to 1,500. This undertaking was given by the Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.
“Yet the Education Ministry appears to be playing a shell game with this intake, issuing different numbers at different times, committing to meeting the number but not actually doing so.
Jaspal said that P. Kamalanathan, the Deputy Education Minister, is a part of this deceitful trickery, issuing yesterday the hypocritical statement that matriculation is for all races.
“Kamalanathan would do well to remember that he is there as the representative of MIC and the Indian community, not to cover up for the MOE.
“I call on the Prime Minister to immediately review this year’s public university intake, and to ensure that the brightest and the best of our students are accepted into the courses of their choice,” Jaspal urged.