KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 25 — The Committee of Vice Chancellors and Rectors of Public Universities (JKNCR UA) has categorically denied claims that students were admitted to public universities via "backdoors” at the expense of those from less fortunate families.

Its chairman, Prof Datuk Dr Mohd Ekhwan Toriman stressed that student admissions to public universities were done transparently via a stringent screening and vetting system based on set criteria.

"Therefore, JKNCR UA would like to state that a ‘backdoor’ method has never existed in the process of admitting students to any public university in Malaysia,” he said at a media conference here today, which was attended by vice-chancellors of several universities, to refute claims made by former Universiti Utara Malaysia (UUM) vice-chancellor Prof Dr Haim Hilman Abdullah, who is the current Jitra assemblyman, that students admitted to public universities via "open channels” had been at the expense of students from poor families.

Mohd Ekhwan, who is Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) vice-chancellor, said student admissions from mainstream sources involving government subsidies were always prioritised over B40 students, and that appeals for open channels not involving government subsidies for T20 and international students were only open after the mainstream quota was filled.

"The total students admitted to public universities via the mainstream has never been reduced, therefore, there is no issue of using the quota of poor students for income generation,” he said, adding that both channels existed during Haim’s tenure as UUM vice-chancellor.

Mohd Ekhwan explained that student admissions via open channels involved only 10 per cent of the total intake of students to public universities for each intake and generally did not involve critical courses like medicine.

"Open channel if we open it, would only be for candidates who qualify and if there are openings and it is very rare for public universities to open for critical fields as they really have high demand and have been filled by qualified candidates who are admitted through the mainstream,” he said.

He also noted that international students have never took the quota of local students in public universities even though the government aimed to have Malaysia as a higher education hub in the region.

"As a higher education hub by 2025, we set a target of around 250,000 international students in all public and private institutions of higher learning. If I’m not wrong, there are currently around 160,000 international students,” he said.

Mohd Ekhwan also said that JKNCR UA supported UUM’s actions of lodging a police report over Haim’s statement and that the committee would leave the matter to the Higher Education Department for further action. — Bernama