Indian Students To Fill 1,500 Matriculation Seats For 2013/2014 Intake

MIC deputy president Datuk Seri Dr S. Subramaniam has confirmed that a total of 1,500 matriculation seats would be filled by Indian Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students, quashing claims the government did not fulfil its promise on the matter.

He said he had spoken to an officer from the education ministry, following publication of an article in a Tamil daily, which alleged the ministry had allocated only 500 places for Indians in its matriculation centres for the 2013/2014 intake.

Dr Subramaniam said the officer had informed him that all deserving cases would be offered a place and that the 1,500 places for Indian students would be filled by end of this month.

"More than 6,000 students have applied for the matriculation seats. The registration starts on May 19, and only after May 27, we will know how many students has registered and how many had rejected the offer," he told Bernama when contacted Wednesday.

Last February, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak announced that the government would offer 1,000 more places annually for Indian SPM holders to pursue matriculation courses at public institutions. Earlier, there were 559 seats for them.