Route card template: compare routes using constraints (Activity C)

This kit runs Activity C: compare routes using constraints. On Day 3 each learner compares the two routes that lead towards their two options, without treating any of them as the default: a degree route (through STPM, matrikulasi, Asasi or another pre-U), a diploma, a TVET course, work, an apprenticeship, a business or a planned gap year. They fill a sourced route card for each, then draw a constraint card and revise. The aim is honest comparison: every fact has a source and a date, and a missing cost is written as UNKNOWN, never as zero.

What you need

• Two printed route cards per learner (route-card-template.md), or the spreadsheet version (route-card-template.csv) shared to phones.
• The filled example below on screen (also as route-card-example-polytechnic-diploma.csv). Re-check its figures before the cohort.
• Printouts of the library route guides (STPM, matrikulasi, Asasi and foundation, pre-U, diploma, TVET, work and enterprise) and the application dates guide, or devices to open them and the official pages, such as e-Panduan UPUOnline.
• One set of constraint cards per pod, and coloured pens for the revision.

Time: 60 minutes, individual work, with a partner check and pair explanations.

The route card fields

1. Route: the route, institution and campus.
2. Entry conditions: the general rule and the course's own requirements.
3. Time: length and start date.
4. Study fees: per semester or year, and the total.
5. Living costs: hostel or rent, food, books, laptop, insurance.
6. Transport: distance from home and monthly cost.
7. Financial support: loans, grants, allowances, scholarships.
8. Next information source: where to check what is still missing.
9. Source and date checked: publisher, the year the figure is for, and the day it was checked.
10. Still to verify: every unknown, and who to ask.

Mark each line C (confirmed on an official page), E (estimate, or from a third-party site or a news report) or U (unknown). If a line does not apply to a route, such as study fees for a learner going straight to work, write "none" and say why.

A filled example: diploma at a public polytechnic

Checked on 22 October 2026, with the PTPTN line re-checked on 23 October 2026. Figures are for the years shown.

The WPP line is marked E because the figure comes from news reports (Bernama, the national news agency, and the New Straits Times, both on 10 June 2026). PTPTN's own website could not be reached to confirm it. That is a useful point to show learners: a reliable report is still not the official page.

What this example teaches: the tuition looks tiny, but three of the biggest costs (food, transport and, at some campuses, rent) are unknown. A learner who writes "RM200 a semester, cheap" has missed most of the cost. A learner who writes "RM200 a semester tuition; food, transport and rent unknown; ask the student office" has done it right.

Day 3 run sheet (60 minutes)

The constraint cards

Each learner draws one at minute 30. They are classroom prompts, not data:

• "The campus you chose has no hostel."
• "Your family's monthly budget band is lower than you planned." (Use a band set for the exercise; no learner shares their own family's income.)
• "You must study within a set distance of home." (The card gives the distance.)
• "Your results came back one credit lower than you expected."

What the facilitator looks for

Use the shared criteria and record emerging, demonstrated with support, or demonstrated independently, with an example:

• Frames the task and constraints: shows on the card what the constraint changed, not only in their head.
• Uses and verifies sources: every number has a source and a year; third-party and news figures are marked E.
• Improves after feedback: revises the comparison after the constraint card and the partner check.
• Explains a justified next step: names a fact to verify, an office or person to ask, and a date.

These are teaching judgements, not scores. A learner who ends with more unknowns than they started with, but knows how to find them, has done well. Keep both routes open, and treat work, enterprise and a gap year as real routes: never steer anyone to a degree.

Common mistakes to catch

• Writing 0 where the page is silent.
• Using a fee without its year.
• Treating a loan advance as free money.
• Copying a figure from a comparison site as if it were official.

The same card in other activities

The Global Opportunities taster on Day 2 (eight-areas model) uses three route cards per team to map study routes for a fictional learner, Daniel, with the same rules: a source and a date for every figure, and unknown is not zero. The plan clinic and the three dated actions on Day 3 use each learner's "still to verify" list.

Paper route

Learners fill both cards in pen, mark each line C, E or U, write the constraint change and their revisions in a second colour, and list three facts to verify with who they will ask. The facilitator photographs the sheets or enters them with the learner later.

What to do next

1. Print two route cards per learner, or share the spreadsheet, and one set of constraint cards per pod.
2. Before the session, re-check the example figures and replace any that have changed, especially the PTPTN line, which is for the June 2026 intake only.
3. After the session, collect each learner's "still to verify" list: it feeds the plan clinic and the three dated actions.