KUALA LUMPUR: Malaysia's education bureau has called for the government to end racial quotas for programs and foundation courses at public universities in the country, in a move that they say has long been in the works. “Since 2003, entry for non-bumiputras in matriculation programs is set at 10 percent. As for asasi courses, many of them are only open to bumiputras. Of late, some asasi programs are open to non-bumiputras but there is a quota on them," said MCA education bureau secretary Chong Sin Woon. “The only pre-university program for public universities that does not have a racial quota is Form Six. Because of this, many non-bumiputra students who cannot enroll for matriculation will go to private universities which are more expensive," he said at a press conference on Thursday. He said the MCA had no problem with Universiti Teknologi Mara (UiTM) as part of affirmative action to help bumiputras. “But other public universities should not limit enrollment of non-bumis," he said, adding that 185,022, or 36%, of public university students were from UiTM last year. The issue on quotas is one of several recommendations proposed by the MCA during a dialogue session on June 25 with the Education Ministry to improve the education system. The MCA had also raised the matter on the poor grasp of Bahasa Malaysia and English among Chinese school students. “While it is important that we protect the Chinese language, it is also crucial that students are competent in English and Malay," he added.
