Kuala lumpur: The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) has clarified that the matriculation programme falls under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Education (MOE). In this regard, MOHE described the statement by Kota Kemuning assemblyman Preakas Sampunathan on the admission of a Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) high achiever into the programme as inaccurate and misleading.

According to BERNAMA News Agency, the ministry said in a statement today that it takes seriously the remarks by the assemblyman, who allegedly blamed MOHE over the issue of a top SPM scorer's admission to the matriculation programme. 'The remarks clearly contain factual confusion and reflect a lack of understanding of the structure of the national education system, as MOHE is being blamed for an issue that falls entirely under the jurisdiction of MOE,' it said.

MOHE stated that all matters relating to recruitment policy, placement offers, appeals, and admission management for the matriculation programme are handled entirely by the Matriculation Division of MOE. The ministry also stressed that it was not involved in the selection process or admission to the programme. 'Implicating and urging MOHE to intervene in matters not under its jurisdiction is incorrect, irresponsible and may mislead the public,' the statement said.

At the same time, MOHE expressed regret that issues involving students' futures were used to target certain parties without thorough fact-checking. On May 28, the media reported that a student who obtained 11As in the SPM examination failed to secure a place in the matriculation programme. Following this, the Kota Kemuning assemblyman was reported to have raised questions over the implementation of the admission policy previously announced by the government.