“Funding allocations and manpower planning will continue to be guided by data and equity principles, ensuring that no school is sidelined,” the ministry said in a statement to FMT.

“Continuous support and enhancements for existing schools remain a priority for the ministry.”

The statement came in response to fears expressed by the Melaka Action Group for Parents in Education, which said that many Form 6 schools were already grappling with a shortage of teachers and poor infrastructure.

The group’s chairman, Mak Chee Kin, also asked whether resources for the project would come from the universities or the education ministry.

“Why don’t they use the same resources for existing Form 6 schools?” he said.

However, the ministry said the setting up of these centres would not affect the distribution of resources to other schools.

On Mak’s concerns about the recruitment of teachers, the ministry said a dedicated pool of experienced STPM teachers had been assigned to the centres. It said any reassignments would be “carefully managed” to avoid affecting existing schools.

The education ministry also said that the establishment of these centres was not intended to replace or reduce priority for existing Form 6 schools.

It was reported in May that Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Universiti Sains Malaysia had been selected for a pilot project for an STPM programme which would offer two fields of study: science and social sciences.

A total of 160 students were to be selected for the pioneer programme, scheduled to start on June 10.