KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 22 — Non-Bumiputera students made up 18.1 per cent of public university admissions in 2022, according to Higher Education Ministry records.
The same data showed that Bumiputera constituted 81.9 per cent of the total intake.
What is not clear, however, is whether the non-Bumiputera group included students from abroad.
The data was disclosed by Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin in a written parliamentary response to Datuk Seri Wee Ka Siong (BN-Ayer Hitam), who posted the reply on Facebook yesterday.
Khaled had furnished his reply in his capacity as the then higher education minister before a change of portfolio to defence minister in a Cabinet reshuffle earlier this month.
He also said that the numbers were based on data collected by the Public University Data Collection System (MyMoheS).
During the Third Meeting of the Second Term of the 15th Parliament session, the MCA president also asked the ministry to disclose the top five preferred courses among STPM and matriculation candidates entering public universities.
Responding to the question, Khaled revealed that STPM students showed an interest in entrepreneurship (tourism), business (entrepreneurship engineering), management, education (Malay language), and business (business international).
Meanwhile, matriculation candidates expressed a preference for degrees in accounting, mechanical engineering, civil engineering, business administration, and medicine.
