KUALA LUMPUR: The Education Ministry (MoE) is currently reviewing a proposal to introduce a unified entrance examination for matriculation and Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) graduates seeking admission to public universities.
Deputy Education Minister Wong Kah Woh said that the move reflected the ministry's commitment to providing students with a clear and streamlined pathway to pursue higher education at public institutions.
However, he said that no final decision had yet been made on the proposal.
"Regarding the proposal from Petaling Jaya (Lee Chean Chung) on whether the ministry is considering unifying matriculation and STPM, the MoE is addressing this issue with the utmost seriousness.
"In recent months, we have been actively reviewing the proposal for a single entry exam for both matriculation and STPM graduates," he said in the Dewan Rakyat today.
Wong was replying to a supplementary question raised by Lee (PH-Petaling Jaya) about whether the government plans to merge the matriculation and STPM systems to create a unified pathway for students.
In addition, Wong also said that the MoE was reviewing another proposal to establish "Premium Form 6 Colleges" through a cross-collaboration with the Higher Education Ministry (MoHE).
This initiative aims to strengthen the Form 6 education pathway and ensure that students have more opportunities to progress to higher education.
Currently, there are 27 Form 6 colleges across the country, and the MoE is working towards an ambitious target: Ensuring that 80 per cent of Form 6 students continue on to university.
Wong said that in the 2021-2022 academic session, 66.85 per cent of Form 6 students successfully transitioned to university, with a slight increase to 67.88 per cent in the 2022-2023 session.