Materia Medica Malaysiana

Daily Express, Sabah, Malaysia --Unqualified students

Kuala Lumpur: Education Minister Tan Sri Musa Mohamad came out with a shocking expose Thursday - that those who failed science subjects and others from the arts stream are among Malaysian students taking up medical courses in Ukraine.

He said this was discovered after the Ministry conducted a study on 100 out of the 650 Malaysian students there.

“We made a survey on 100 students and found that half of them are not qualified for the medical course. This is something serious.

“Some of them failed in the science subjects and some are from the arts stream,” he told reporters after attending the 21st national-level King’s Cup oratory competition here.

Musa said this in response to queries on why the Ministry had tightened the minimum qualifications needed for admission to local and foreign universities.

Musa said the Ministry also discovered the same scenario at one university in Russia.

“This happened and fortunately we know about it early. I think the people in Ukraine or Russia did not do this on purpose, I think they are either confused or made to be confused,” he said.

Asked on how the confusion could have arisen, Musa said it could be due to the different grading systems practised by Malaysia and Ukraine.

“In Ukraine, to them the digit “ 9 “ (which denotes fail in Malaysia) is the highest grade but for us it is the lowest.

“Hence, there is confusion and I believe their recruitment agents here allowed this to slip through,” he said.

Musa said to prevent a recurrence of the situation, Malaysian students who wished to study abroad were advised to use the services of agents registered with the Ministry.

“Otherwise, we will not be responsible if they happen to be cheated,” he said.

News reports Thursday said the Education Ministry had tightened the minimum qualifications needed for first-degree courses.

The move was in the wake of certain foreign universities which admitted students with inferior qualifications, according to the reports. - Bernama