USM...to infinity and beyond!!!

USM to conduct its own entrance examination for admission for this year and next year! That is history in the making for our higher institution. It's the only APEX university right now and has been given the autonomy to do this! Many of the world's prestigious universities have their own entrance exams! NUS also conducts their own 'entrance exams' and interviews for certain courses.

If conducted fairly, this would means that only those who meet their criteria will be admitted. No more going through the UPU. Wah! I see far reaching effects.... maybe for once we'll see real meritocracy; provided the politicians don't meddle or start another round of 'keris' waving and lament about how certain-certain groups need all the help they can get, blah, blah, blah!

And maybe, just maybe, for once the entrance exam will also give a more level playing ground for STPM students. They're always pitted unfairly against the Matriculation students; Matriculation being an internal exam and covering a more limited scope. These days it is more difficult for STPM students to get into the courses of their choice simply because the CGPA of the Matrics students are generally higher.... how to compare when both platforms are not the same?

So, pardon me if I am a little excited about this development. There may still be hope for our institutions of higher learning to scale greater heights, hope that we may stop the slide that our institutions are in. Maybe for once, we can finally have a university dedicated to quality and true ability. I'm all for this to work!