Only a couple of days back, it was announced that of the 74,967 Malaysian students who applied for entry into public universities, only 40,016 of them were provided places. Of course, not all of the 70+ thousand students qualified for entry, but the remaining 63,158 who did still means that more than 23,000 qualified students were denied entry.

Before we even consider the fact that many of those who were accepted were not even provided their first choice courses, just look at one key statistic: 36.6% of those who applied (and were qualified for entry) were rejected. Seen in another light, the number of students accepted could have been 57.8% greater than it is now.

So, where should these 23,000+ qualified students turn to for higher education? Private colleges and universities? Overseas universities? Night classes perhaps?

ZZZzzz… And to think that this sort of “competition” (for university places) isn’t even creating world-class universities (unlike in Singapore). At least if it was, the Government could offer the excuse that it was aiming for two of its universities to be ranked among the world’s top 50.