Some Interesting University Entrance Statistics

The Higher Education Management Department director-general Prof Datuk Dr Hassan Said has proudly announced to the media that all STPM and matriculation students with a Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA) of 4.0 who applied for the medicine course were successful. It's regarded as a success as it would have avoided the controversy in the previous years whereby certain students with perfect grades for STPM were not granted places for medicine studies. On the surface, this actually looks pretty good.

However, if you were to study the statistics available in detail, the picture is then not particularly clear. Study the following numbers and make up your own mind:

No. of STPM candidates with 4.0 (2004/2003): 362/767
% drop in top scorers: -52.8%

No. of Matriculation candidates with 4.0 (2004/2003): 1247/1263
% drop in top scorers: -1.3%

No. of STPM students (2000): 24,000
No. of Matriculation students (2000): 19,832
(if anyone has the latest statistics, please email me)

% of students with top scores for STPM: 1.5%
% of students with top scores for Matriculation: 6.3%
The rate of "top scoring" in Matriculation is >4.1 times that in STPM

% of non-bumiputra students in STPM: [?]
% of non-bumiputra students in matriculation: 10%
(if anyone has the latest statistics, please email me)

Bumiputra admission into medicine (2005/2004): 544/439
% increase in Bumiputra admission: 23.9%

Chinese admission into medicine (2005/2004): 321/297
% increase in Chinese admission: 8.1%

Indian admission into medicine (2005/2004): 45/43
% increase in Indian admission: 4.7%

Total no. of medicine students admitted (2005/2004): 910/779
% increase in medicine students (2005/2004): 16.8% (131 students)
% of Bumiputra students in the increase: 80.2%
% of Chinese students in the increase: 18.3%
% of Indian students in the increase: 1.5%

There are a few additional numbers, which if available will allow the above statistics to present a more accurate picture:

• No. of top scorers (CGPA 4.0) from Matriculation who applied for Medicine
• No. of top scorers (CGPA 4.0) from STPM who applied for Medicine
• No. of candidates admitted to Medicine faculty via Matriculation
• No. of candidates admitted to Medicine faculty via STPM

Nevertheless, certain questions may be raised with regards to the statistics at hand above:

1. Why did the number of top scorers from STPM drop so significantly relative to matriculation students? The top students from Matriculation was 3.4 times more than those from STPM, despite the latter having more students.
   
   
2. How was it that of the increase in the no. of places available for medicine studies, 80.2% went to bumiputras as compared to the 2004 overall percentage of only 56.4%?
   
   
3. Was the increase in the number of places a "political decision" meant to please all parties such that bumiputras will be able to claim increase in % admission into medicine while the Chinese will be happy that all top students have gained entry into medicine? Is this the right solution to take to maintain academic excellence in our local universities?
   
   
4. The number of places for medicine increased significantly by 16.8% or 131 places to 910. Are our universities able to cope with this sudden increase in adimission?

The questions above are all the more critical, when we take into consideration the fact that despite the official ministry of education stand that the matriculation and STPM certifications are equivalent, it is commonly understood that the latter is significantly more challenging than the matriculation course. I firmly believe that the simplest solution to the above disparity is to have the matriculation students also sitting for the STPM examinations.

Our Education Minister, Datuk Seri Hishamuddin Tun Hussein emphasised repeatedly on the need for "integrated and united Malaysia" and to achieve "rejunevated consciousness of the Malaysian identity" in his address to the Malaysian Oxford and Cambridge Society Dinner Forum as reported in the Star and NST here and here. (I was privileged to have attended the forum)

"I'm tired of being defensive of our diversity, of seeing only the potential sensitivities and pitfalls. I want to be proud of it. I want to teach our children to see the opportunities in it, to benefit from it, make capital out of it, and leverage it.

... crucially, [the school] is also the place in which [Malaysians] hope that treasured communal identities are cultivated and protected."

Datuk Seri, I fully agree and support your cause to an integrated Malaysia which all Malaysians will be proud of. National integration starts very much with our education system, and common secondary school entry examination into our universities is a critical reform to achieve your vision and objectives.