{"id":10882,"date":"2026-02-24T09:57:08","date_gmt":"2026-02-24T01:57:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/propp.my\/?p=10882"},"modified":"2026-02-24T09:57:38","modified_gmt":"2026-02-24T01:57:38","slug":"no-more-easy-first-class-perception-minister-says-as-govt-tightens-assessment-rules","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/propp.my\/ms\/no-more-easy-first-class-perception-minister-says-as-govt-tightens-assessment-rules","title":{"rendered":"No more \u2018easy First Class\u2019 perception, minister says as govt tightens assessment rules"},"content":{"rendered":"<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"10882\" class=\"elementor elementor-10882\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-section-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<section class=\"elementor-section elementor-top-section elementor-element elementor-element-5aeaef5c elementor-section-boxed elementor-section-gap-beside-yes elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-height-default elementor-section-column-vertical-align-stretch\" data-id=\"5aeaef5c\" data-element_type=\"section\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-container elementor-column-gap-extended\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column elementor-col-100 elementor-top-column elementor-element elementor-element-6a93a47\" data-id=\"6a93a47\" data-element_type=\"column\">\n\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-column-wrap elementor-element-populated\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-wrap\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-39814a43 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"39814a43\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t<style>\/*! elementor - v3.12.1 - 02-04-2023 *\/\n.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-stacked .elementor-drop-cap{background-color:#69727d;color:#fff}.elementor-widget-text-editor.elementor-drop-cap-view-framed .elementor-drop-cap{color:#69727d;border:3px solid;background-color:transparent}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap{margin-top:8px}.elementor-widget-text-editor:not(.elementor-drop-cap-view-default) .elementor-drop-cap-letter{width:1em;height:1em}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap{float:left;text-align:center;line-height:1;font-size:50px}.elementor-widget-text-editor .elementor-drop-cap-letter{display:inline-block}<\/style>\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-text-editor elementor-clearfix\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"py-1.5 mb-4 text-lg font-bitter\"><address class=\"location-block\">\n<p>SHAH ALAM, Feb 24\u00a0\u2014 The government will introduce new guidelines to standardise the awarding of First Class degrees across all higher education institutions (IPTs) in the country, Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir said.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>He said the move is important to ensure a uniform assessment standard between public higher education institutions (IPTA) and private higher education institutions (IPTS), particularly in relation to the exemption of National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loan repayments for graduates who obtain First Class degrees.<\/p>\n<div id=\"mm-story-outstream\" class=\"\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<p>Zambry said one of the main challenges at present is the government\u2019s financial constraints, as annual expenditure for such exemptions exceeds RM300 million.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPreviously, the government decided to do it at the IPTA level first, and perhaps at the next stage, we would propose, as a starting point, implementation at state higher education institutions and government-linked companies (GLCs), before considering its application to IPTS.<\/p>\n<div id=\"mm-story-mreg-2\" class=\"\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<p>\u201cThe issue that arises is how we measure students who obtain First Class degrees at IPTS, because IPTAs already have a clear system. We do not want any perception that it is easier to obtain a First Class degree at one institution and more difficult at another,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"mm-teads\" class=\"\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<p>He said this during question time at the Student Outcome Laboratory and Dialogue: Malaysia Higher Education Blueprint programme organised by the National Students\u2019 Representative Council (MPPK) at Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) Shah Alam, attended by 1,000 student leaders from IPTA, IPTS, polytechnics and community colleges nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>Zambry said he has instructed the Malaysian Qualifications Agency (MQA) to conduct a comprehensive evaluation to ensure there is no discrimination against IPTS students, including those from low-income families who achieve academic excellence through their own effort and diligence.<\/p>\n<div class=\"sidebar-square-ad\">\n<div id=\"mm-story-mreg-4\">\u00a0<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Meanwhile, MQA chief executive officer Prof Datuk Dr Mohammad Shatar Sabran said the agency will issue a specific guideline to standardise the definition and criteria for First Class degrees across all IPTs.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMQA will coordinate and issue a guideline so that all First Class degrees awarded in the country are aligned. There should no longer be perceptions that it is easier to obtain a First Class degree at one institution and harder at another,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>He said the guideline is expected to be tabled at the MQA Council Meeting in May before being submitted to the Higher Education Ministry for further decision.<\/p>\n<p>Previously, in the tabling of Budget 2026, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim announced that the government agreed to exempt PTPTN loan repayments for all students who obtain First Class Honours bachelor\u2019s degrees at IPTA from low- and middle-income families, benefiting nearly 6,000 borrowers with an annual allocation of RM90 million. \u2014 Bernama<\/p>\n<\/address><\/div>\n<pre><i>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.malaymail.com\/news\/malaysia\/2026\/02\/24\/no-more-easy-first-class-perception-minister-says-as-govt-tightens-assessment-rules\/210158\">https:\/\/www.malaymail.com\/news\/malaysia\/2026\/02\/24\/no-more-easy-first-class-perception-minister-says-as-govt-tightens-assessment-rules\/210158<\/a><\/i><\/pre>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\n<p><!-- \/wp:paragraph --><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The government is standardising guidelines to align \u2018First Class\u2019 honours for both public and private tertiary education institutions across Malaysia. \u2014 File picture by Miera Zulyana<\/p>","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":10884,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[116],"tags":[27],"class_list":["post-10882","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/propp.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10882","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/propp.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/propp.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propp.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propp.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10882"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/propp.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10882\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10888,"href":"https:\/\/propp.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10882\/revisions\/10888"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propp.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/10884"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/propp.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10882"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propp.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10882"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/propp.my\/ms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10882"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}