The DAP has revived its calls for a common examination system for entry to public universities in place of the 'meritocracy' system.

Its secretary-general Lim Guan Eng said the higher education ministry's claim that entrance to Malaysian universities is based on meritocracy will not have any credibility so long as there is no common examination system for all students.

The current university entrance system is based on results obtained in the Sijil Tinggi Pelajaran Malaysia (STPM) and matriculation examination respectively.

"Meritocracy will remain a quota system in disguise if the majority of students from one community takes a different examination from a different set of students," he said in response to an announcement last Friday on the new university intake.

The higher education ministry had disclosed that 39,976 students had been admitted "based on meritocracy to pursue higher studies at public institutions of higher learning this year".

They comprise 24,941 or 62.4 percent bumiputeras (comprising Malays and indigenous groups), 32 percent or 12,802 Malaysian Chinese and 5.6 percent or 2,233 Malaysian Indians.

'Don't ignore problem'

In his statement dated June 25, Lim pointed out that it is discriminatory to maintain two sets of examinations because the degree of difficulty varies.

"Students and academics have asserted that, of the two examinations, the matriculation exam is the easier. This is unfair and penalises students sitting the students sitting the STPM examination," he said.

Lim reiterated the need for a common examination to ensure that "undisputed" top scholars are allowed to pursue critical courses such as medicine.

The intake will see 910 students pursuing medicine - 544 bumiputeras, 321 Chinese and 45 Indians. Of the 190 places for dentistry, 115 are for bumiputeras, 62 for Chinese and 13 for Indians. The 284 pharmacy places are divided among 135 bumiputeras, 143 Chinese and 6 Indians.

Similar proportions are reflected in courses such as engineering, accountancy, economics and law.

Lim also threw the gauntlet down to non-Malay political parties such as MCA, MIC and Gerakan to stop "turning a blind eye and pretend that both exams are comparable and of similar standard".

He added that these parties, by ignoring the discrimination, were engaging in an act of "self-deception".