Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announces MOHE takeover of pre-university programmes, creating 3,000 new university places in high-demand courses
PUTRAJAYA: The Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE) will fully take over the pre-university education system involving Form Six and matriculation programmes starting this year.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the move will officially place both groups of students under the higher education category.
“Starting this year, the Ministry of Higher Education will take over the entire pre-university education system — Form Six and matriculation,” he said at the launch of the National Education Blueprint (RPN) 2026-2035.
“So Form Six and matriculation students are no longer school students. They are now categorised under higher education.”
Anwar also addressed the annual controversy over limited entry into preferred university courses.
To ensure fairness, the government has asked universities to add 1,500 new places in popular courses.
Following further discussions, universities agreed to add another 1,500 places covering various fields.
“We are adding another 1,500 places, which means a total of 3,000 additional places this year,” Anwar said.
The new places will cover law, accounting, finance and banking, Islamic finance, artificial intelligence (AI), and economics.
They will also include Bahasa Melayu, English language, communication, media studies, data science, data analytics and computer science.
The government will continue to prioritise foundation and matriculation students as usual.
Assurances have also been given to high-performing Form Six (STPM) students.
“We have also given assurances that high-achieving Form Six STPM students will be given priority for university placement, particularly those with a cumulative grade point average (CGPA) of 4.0,” Anwar said.
“If the CGPA is 4.0, universities will make every effort to offer a place, although in some cases the choice of course will depend on the university’s capacity.”
