IPOH, Nov 25 — Admissions to Public Institutions of Higher Education (IPTA) are based on merit, particularly for highly sought-after courses, says Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir.

He said that the lack of placements for students in public universities should not be turned into a racial or discriminatory issue.

"I have been informed that there is no discrimination in the admission of students to IPTA. The basis is clear-if a student has achieved all A’s in their subjects, they will be offered a placement.

"What is often debated is the preference for first-choice courses, which usually involve critical fields like medicine, pharmacy, and dentistry,” said Zambry, who is also secretary-general of Barisan Nasional (BN) during a press conference after officiating the closing of the Perak BN State Convention here yesterday.

According to Zambry, these three courses are among the most in-demand, while placements are limited.

Zambry noted that while students’ examination results might qualify them for these programmes, other processes such as interviews must also be completed before confirming their admission status.

"Some have requested specific quotas for their community. However, for us, admission to these critical fields is strictly based on merit. There is no justification for favouring one ethnicity over another,” he said.

Earlier, Perak MIC chairman Tan Sri M. Ramasamy highlighted in his speech at the convention that his party frequently received complaints about the lack of placements for outstanding Indian students in IPTA. He also raised the need to increase quotas for matriculation graduates.

In response, Zambry said the issue raised by Ramasamy was not exclusive to the Indian community, as students from other ethnicities faced similar challenges.

"There are Malay students who face the same issue. Some achieve excellent results but do not get their first-choice courses due to high competition. The same applies to students from the Chinese, Kadazan, and Iban communities,” he said. — Bernama