MANY native students in Sarawak studying in secondary schools in rural districts sat for only seven SPM subjects, Pakatan Harapan information chief Senator Abun Sui Anyit said.
He said they may miss out on chances for university matriculation if the federal Higher Education Ministry used merit as the sole criterion to consider university matriculation.
“Most students in urban areas sat for 10 SPM subjects,” Sui said.
“In rural Sarawak, there are many students who only sat for seven SPM subjects due to lack of teachers in some subjects.
“In cities and big towns, almost all students sat for 10 SPM subjects as their schools have teachers for all the subjects.
“If university matriculation is only based on merit, then surely the rural students with only seven SPM subjects will not be able to compete with the urban students with 10 subjects.
“The federal ministry must be very careful and consider this unique factor affecting rural schools,” he told reporters in Miri.
Sui is a native rights lawyer based in Miri who travels extensively throughout rural Sarawak.
He said this situation was also happening in Sabah.
He called on the federal Education Ministry to maintain special matriculation quotas for rural bumiputera students. – July 16, 2024.
