DON'T DISCRIMINATE STUDENTS WITH DISABILITIES FROM TERTIARY EDUCATION - KIT SIANG

Kit Siang (left) wants Noraini to put a stop on discrimination against students with disabilities from tertiary education.

23 June 2021

By Wartawan Nabalu News

KUALA LUMPUR: The Higher Education Minister, Noraini Ahmad has been urged to put an immediate stop to the exclusion and discrimination against students with disabilities from tertiary education.

DAP veteran lawmaker Lim Kit Siang expressed shock that a student with 9As was denied the chance to pursue her tertiary education at a local public university due to her physical disability.

"The student group Concerned UM Indian Graduates (Cumig) has submitted a letter to the Higher Education Minister on a 2019 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia candidate with 9As who used a wheelchair who was excluded and discriminated against in a local public university.

"She was shortlisted for UKM’s Asasi Pintar Pre-University Programme (APP) and attended an interview as well as completed all the documents required, including a video submission.

"However, during the UPU Online Update Phase, her previous application was blank and she was eligible to only choose from two diploma programmes and 20 community college certifications," he said in a statement, Wednesday.

The MP for Iskandar Puteri added that the student was only given the opportunity to apply for two diploma programmes and to community colleges, although there are 20 public universities, 36 polytechnics and four public skills training institutions in Malaysia.

She was told by an officer that she was unable to pick other university programmes, even though she is qualified as they did not have the facilities to cater to disabled candidates.

"UPU Online had said that the applicant was only able to apply for disabled-friendly programmes that had been predetermined by the university, based on the type of disability faced by the applicant.

"This is not an isolated case as other disabled applicants also face similar problems when applying through UPU Online," he asserted.

Kit Siang said he seconded the former Education Minister, Dr Mazlee Malik who mentioned that it is an injustice for student candidates with disabilities to be excluded and segregated from pursuing tertiary education.

"Noraini should take immediate action to rectify such injustices to students with disabilities as Malaysia had signed the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities in 2008, which includes the right for people with disabilities to receive an education."