The Committee of Vice-Chancellors and Rectors of Public Universities said students were admitted to these institutions after undergoing a stringent vetting process based on set criteria.

The committee’s chairman, Ekhwan Toriman, explained that there were two “channels”, namely an “open channel” meant for B40 households and a “commercial channel” meant for the T20 households.

“Likening the ‘commercial channel’ to denying a student from the B40 group a spot (in university) reflects ignorance.

“The admission of students is done over and above board. This alleged backdoor channel does not exist,” he said at a press conference here.

Ekhwan was responding to a claim by Jitra assemblyman Haim Hilman Abdullah who alleged that there was an “open channel” that saw students being admitted to public universities at the expense of students from poor households.

He went on to say that perhaps Haim, a former Universiti Utara Malaysia vice-chancellor, did not understand why a “commercial channel” had been established or how it worked.

“This particular channel existed when he was a vice-chancellor at UUM.”

Ekhwan said fees obtained from students who were admitted via the “commercial channel” were used to develop facilities that were used by all students.