Education: Quota system for Bumiputera to remain - Anwar

SINTOK - The quota system for Bumiputera students in education needs to be maintained to balance the number of students from the community in institutions of higher learning (IPT).

Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said if the system was not retained, it could cause an imbalance in the number of Malays - who form the majority of Bumiputera - in IPTs, including in certain disciplines.

"There are some principles in the Constitution about guaranteeing opportunities for Malays and Bumiputera to be given placements so that they are better able to compete, we will maintain this.

"If not, we will see the same disparity that occurred at the University of Malaya in the 1970s and 1960s, where in the engineering faculty there were zero Malays, and only 12 per cent in the medical faculty, so there was an effort by the late Ungku (Abdul) Aziz and the ministry at the time... to help the Malays so that they can better compete," he said.

He was responding to a student’s question regarding the quota system and meritocracy in the current national education system, during the ‘Temu Anwar Kedah’ programme at Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) here, today.

The Prime Minister said, however, having the quota system did not mean that meritocracy was dead, and if there were students from among non-Malay and Bumiputera who excel, the government must find ways to give them opportunities as well.

"I agree to retain this quota programme, but we have to find another way to give opportunities to smart non-Malay, non-Bumiputera children, whose results are good, so that they are not left out," he said.

Anwar stressed that if the government took action to set aside the quota policy, it would cause tension and be turned into a political issue by certain parties.

The premier said he had instructed Education Minister Fadhlina Sidek for the system to be maintained, and at the same time, open up opportunities for students who excelled to further their studies.

Meanwhile, Anwar said that Malaysia was among the countries with the best treatment of minority groups, although he acknowledged that there were matters that could be improved in that regard.

"There are other countries where the Muslim minority do not get a place at all, but let's not use them as an example," he said. - BERNAMA