PUTRAJAYA: The Education Ministry today announced 1,000 additional matriculation spots at government matriculation institutions for outstanding Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) Chinese students for the 2018/2019 session.
Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said that the offer for Chinese students from the B40 category was decided at a Cabinet meeting on May 30.
Maszlee added that this offer would not affect the current Bumiputera quota at the ministry’s Kolej Matrikulasi.
"The Bumiputera quota is almost full, with over 800 students.
"Pakatan Harapan will try its best to assist eligible students based on their achievements and socio-economic level, whether Bumiputera or non-Bumiputera," he told a media conference here today.
Maszlee added that for the 2018/2019 session, a total of 84,891 applications for matriculation were received by the ministry, including 20,040 applications from non-Bumiputeras and of that total, 4,068 non-Bumiputeras students were admitted.
On additional quota for Indian students, Maszlee said an addition of 700 matriculation spots was already announced in April for this year's academic term.
The Ministry of Education's Matriculation Programme is a pre-university programme for Bumiputera students who wish to continue to their first degrees in the fields of science, technology and engineering, among others.
However, since 2003, the programme opened its doors by 10 percent to include non-Bumiputera students in order to create a healthy competition for students and to strengthen national integration as well as racial unity.
Meanwhile, Maszlee said the special permission letter issued by the previous deputy minister of education to several vernacular Chinese schools to conduct computer classes within school hours was cancelled.
He said this was decided after taking into account complaints received by parents.
Computer classes in vernacular schools which require fees could not be conducted within school hours as it went against a current circular letter, still in effect, according to Maszlee.
"However, paid computer classes can be conducted as part of co-curricular activities after school hours and is not made compulsory to students," Maszlee said.
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