Here’s the thing: the meritocracy part is good. But it has to focus on equity rather than equality.

Rafizi said something about this a while back. He said it’s not fair to compare his child studying in one of the best public schools in Putrajaya with a poor child in rural area.

Sarawak govt has to acknowledge that the rich-poor gap in the state is quite large. To have a perfectly level playing field is impossible, but working towards equity will mean giving a bit of leeway towards disadvantaged poor students.

Then that is a separate matter. These are universities, no?

If you want to say that there should be more vocational institutions for those who don't make the cut, then I agree with you.

But let's not mix up 2 different matters just for the sake of arguing online.

You’d be surprised how many people get 7A1s and more and still dumb as rock. Tuitionssss and soalan bocor help a lot

forcing 'slow learners' into uni and let them grad with degrees even when we know they are sub par only destroy the qualification's credibility. they are doing this exact same practise somewhere and whenever we saw resume from that uni, we just toss it into the bin

u wan that?

Agree.
Yes on vocational.

The 2 matters are in the same ecosystem, including 3R. It is necessary to include economic model bcos edu will take a generation to see effect, and democratic gov't only has 4 years, and in the event that edu model was unsuccessful, then new set of problems arise. So capitalism economic model is where T1 or T15 profits from B85. 67 year majority did not talk about economy, today even god can help us as we see B40 turn into B85.

if we know they are slow learners, why force them into STEM university, instead of TVET stream?

Aren’t those private uni? . Start with UMS then we talk

Are those the exceptions or are those the norm?

You want to cherry pick those rare anecdotal stories, then how also we can argue till the cows come home.

Then how else to objectively benchmark who is smart or dumb, and whether they deserve a place in university?

Let me rephrase it this way.

Which one is smarter and more deserving of a place in uni: a rich kid studying in aircond all day with tuitions on weekends or a poor kid in rural area who has to walk many miles to school in jungle, crossing river, studying in a semi-collapsed wooden school? Both got 7A1s.

What if the rich kid scores 3As, the poor kid scores 7A1s but the poor kid cannot enter u but the rich kid can,  because of quota system?

Yes, but the article talks about admission to the 5 state owned universities. It doesn't talk about TVET alternatives, so I cannot assume that nothing is being done on that as well.

the point is, do not put unqualified ppl into uni. that will only destroy the credibility of your education

create other streams of learning channels that will benefit them

not everyone need to have a degree to contribute to society

and don't pretend all is dandy and fine when it's not. that's what i'm saying

I didn’t even get into that yet😅 but yeah, correct also.

No more 'quota system' for state-owned universities, says Sarawak minister

SIBU: Admission into five state-owned universities in Sarawak will be based solely on meritocracy to pick the best of the best, says state Deputy Minister of Education, Innovation and Talent Development Datuk Dr Annuar Rapaee.

"Students need to know that enrolment for these universities is no longer based on a quota system. In other words, it's based on meritocracy," said Dr Annuar at the Sarawak Career and Training Fair (SCaT) 2024 on Saturday (Nov 2)

He said that with a system of meritocracy, students have to compete for places.

"Students must realise the importance of competition in order to pursue their studies in university," he added.

The five universities are Swinburne University of Technology Sarawak Campus, Curtin University Malaysia, University of Technology Sarawak, i-CATS University College, and Centre for Technology Excellence Sarawak (Centexs).

According to Dr Annuar, for Sarawak to advance towards becoming a developed state, meritocracy is the "only way to train talents and pick the best of the best among our students."

To ensure rural students can gain admission to these universities, he said the Sarawak government is upgrading their facilities, which includes spending RM15mil yearly to provide free tuition for Form 3 and Form 5 students.

Dr Annuar was representing minister Datuk Seri Roland Sagah Wee Inn at the function.

https://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2024...arawak-minister

You have your point, but you are assuming only bumi students are poor and require quota to give them a leg up. Many non bumis are also too poor to enrol in private tertiary institutions if they can't enrol in public u.

Ask yourself: with quota in place, how many rural bumis still miss out on tertiary education? Using your reasoning (quota helps rural poor bumi), we should expect many rural poor bumi to be studying in university, kan? Is this the reality, especially among bumi orang Asli?

Then wouldn't it be fine if the quota was based on family income instead of race?

Congrats!
Org Asli kid did not do well in school won't have chance to enter university.
Rich kids got lots of tuition can enjoy state university

Rich gets rich, poor gets tax and debt.