They said such systems risk eroding meritocracy and deepening social inequality in the public higher education sector.
Rosli Mahat of Pergerakan Tenaga Akademik Malaysia (GERAK) said public universities should focus on educating Malaysians, not generating income, and warned against allowing them to drift into private sector practices.
“It is the duty of the government to provide income to the public universities,” he told FMT. “Otherwise, turn the public universities into private universities.”
Satu, which allows students to apply directly to public universities outside the centralised UPU system, has drawn criticism for its higher fees and the potential for “pay to enter” access that bypasses academic standards.
Recently, MCA called for a suspension of UM’s MBBS intake for the 2025/2026 session until the higher education ministry reviews its admissions mechanism.
A position paper launched by MCA president Wee Ka Siong said the apparent selectiveness in UM’s student admissions raised questions about meritocracy in the process.
The party said the availability of the two parallel channels reinforced inequality as lower-income students could only apply through UPU, while those with funds could afford Satu’s higher fees.
Rosli said dual admission channels can exist – one for Malaysians, the other for international students – but only if both adhere strictly to the same merit-based criteria.
“Charge international students more, if necessary. Offer discounts to Malaysians based on their socioeconomic background, and give priority to students from underprivileged schools or first-generation university applicants,” he said.
Sharifah Munirah Alatas, deputy director and principal research fellow at the Allianz Centre for Governance, said the problem lies in whether the admission channels are fair, transparent and merit-based.
“Satu may claim to be fair and merit-based, but how can we be assured that students aren’t being admitted simply because they can afford the higher fees?
“In Malaysia, we are aware of how we have great rules and regulations, but extremely bad implementation. If there are clear SOPs on the selection process, be transparent about it,” she said to FMT.
Munirah proposed that UM generate income by expanding research grants, commercialising intellectual property, and attracting industry partnerships.
“Reduce the administrative work lecturers in public universities currently engage in, so they can then find more time and motivation to publish quality work,” she said.
Such publications could boost the universities’ global profile and draw in a wider range of funding.