SINTOK KEDAH: The Malay and Bumiputera quota in education should be maintained to balance the total of students in that race in the institutes of higher learning.
Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said, if the system is not being maintained it will cause an imbalance number of Malay students in the institutes of higher learning including in certain courses.
“Several principles in the national constitution on the guarantee for the Malay and Bumiputera students to be given places and able to compete will be maintained,” Anwar said when answering a question from a student in the programme “Temu Anwar di Kedah” at the Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) here Saturday as reported by “Sinar Harian.”
Anwar added, if that does not happen than there will be a gap like what has happened in University Malaya in 1960’s and 1970’s . There were zero Malay students in the engineering faculty and if enter they would be “torn apart” while at the medical faculty was 12 per cent.
“There were efforts from the late Ungku Aziz (Royal Professor) and the related ministry to help the Malay students to compete,” he said when responding to a student’s question regarding the quota and meritocracy in the current education system.
The prime minister said, even though the system is being maintained it does not mean that the meritocracy system has ended and if there are excellent students among non-Malays and Bumiputera, the government has to find a way to give them the chance and not being sidelined.
“I agree the quota programme should be maintained but we have to find other ways to give space to the non-Malay students, non Bumiputeras who are excellent with good results so that they will not look as if being discriminated,” he said.
Anwar stressed that if the government takes an action to set aside the quota policy, it will give rise to tension and certain parties will make it as a political issue.
According to the prime minister, he has given directive to the Minister of Education, Fadhlina Sidek to maintain the system and at the same time to open space and opportunity to students who have obtained good results and give them assistance to further their studies.
Meanwhile, Anwar said, Malaysia is among the countries that entertain the minority groups in good manner even though there are certain things that could be improved.
“There are countries where the Muslim minority has not been given any place but do not take that as an example then we will be slow like them, weak like them and cruel like them,” he said. – Malaysia World News
