KUALA LUMPUR: All students who scored 10As and above in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) exam will get a placement for higher education at the matriculation level this year regardless of race or background, says the Prime Minister.
Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government’s decision on guaranteed placement was reached after the recent Cabinet meeting.
“All of our children, when I say children I mean Malay, Chinese, Indian, Dayak, Kadazan and all, without exception. If our children scored 10As and above or obtained excellent results, without any exception they will get a place – this is an assurance from the government.
“This bold decision was made to ensure that all excellent SPM students get the best opportunity to continue with their studies.
“At the same time, the existing bumiputra quota system for the Education Ministry’s matriculation programme remains unaffected,” he said in his speech at the National Training Week (NTW) 2024 closing ceremony in Bukit Jalil here yesterday.
Anwar said the Education and Higher Education ministries will work together on the details soon.
“The government is always striving to improve access to and quality of the national education system, while ensuring the bumiputra quota system and principle of meritocracy are maintained for the benefit of all students,” he said.
On the NTW 2024, Anwar said such opportunities should be used by schools, university students and those already employed to get training in various fields for free to improve their skills.
He said the younger generation should leapfrog by exploring new knowledge in the post-normal era that demanded different actions, especially now with Malaysia becoming a destination for the global semiconductor industry.
“Technological change happens at a very fast pace; if we are delayed by two years, we will be 10 years behind.
“The challenge for the young today is the acquisition of knowledge that cannot be obtained at school or university, so if there is an opportunity, make the most of it,” he said, adding that no other country provided free training on such a large scale involving the private sector.
Human Resources Minister Steven Sim, who was present, said more than 65,000 free skills courses worth RM323mil had been organised in all districts throughout the country during the NTW.
“Almost 380,000 Malaysians attended the training courses. Over the past two days, this site in Bukit Jalil turned into Bukit Jalil University as almost 3,000 participants took part in more than 70 skills training courses.
“Our goal after this is to make the ministry a national skills training hub, with an allocation of RM2.6bil.
“How will we do it? By mobilising all programmes, resources and efforts of the nine departments and five agencies related to skills programmes into a more integrated ecosystem,” Sim said.
He added that Malaysians will not have to travel far and wide as the “Kesuma (Human Resources Ministry) University” was one without borders, with the ability to meet the skills needed by all levels of society while achieving the national target of having a 35% skilled workforce by 2030.
Also present at the event were Communications Minister Fahmi Fadzil, Health Minister Datuk Seri Dzulkefly Ahmad and Human Resource Development Corporation (HRD Corp) chief Executive Datuk Shahul Dawood.
Separately, Fahmi said the decision on guaranteed placement was approved by the Cabinet on Friday.
“Through this, we can resolve some issues and we hope that this matter can no longer be made into a racial issue,” said Fahmi, who is also the government spokesman.
