JUNE 24 — Finally, perhaps we would not have to quarrel over the issue of scholarships beginning next year.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak announced that a review for Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships would be conducted and it would focus on awarding grants to top students who excel at pre-university level instead of the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM).
Students, even if they can score well in the SPM, would still have to wait for another one or two years to be eligible for the scholarship application. Parents who love their children would also have to wait for another one or two years to decide whether their children are geniuses.
The reason is simple. The SPM is a test of basic learning ability and students can actually score well by just memorising everything. It cannot guarantee a student’s ability to think and identify their true potential.
In the United States, after finishing six years of secondary school with a good Grade Point Average (GPA), a student also has to sit for the Scholastic Assessment Tests (SAT). Both the results will then decide whether the student is eligible to be admitted into a university.
Generally, no scholarship is offered to first year university students. Students can either ask from their parents or borrow from them. They might have a family meeting and negotiate over the “loan” period and conditions, including their willingness to support their “investors” in the future. If they find that they cannot survive merely on the “loan”, they just get themselves a part-time job.
As for those from poor or stingy families, they would have no choice but to apply for bank loans.
There is no chance for them to apply for government and university scholarships. At least, they might be eligible only when they are in their sophomore year or above. The government and universities understand that scholarships must be invested only in potential students.
Whether a student is a talent or a mediocrity could only be decided after they have completed their first year in universities.
More scholarships are reserved for postgraduate courses. University courses are just the foundation and the success of a student might be sensed only in their postgraduate studies.
Offering master’s and doctoral scholarships are more in line with the principle of talent cultivation.
Providing scholarships to SPM graduates is just a Malaysian education policy seeking for quick success and instant benefits.
In recent years, not many people actually care about how many world-class talents have been cultivated by these scholarships and there is no follow up about how many of these students have decided to stay abroad and refused to return.
Today, students must at least completed their pre-universities courses such as the Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia (STPM), matriculation or A-levels, and received offer letters from world’s top universities before they can apply for the scholarships. If they succeed in getting it, it will be a deserved honour for them. However, if they fail to get it, they can then seek help from Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong.
The deputy education minister would be very happy to fight for them while the Public Service Department would find it hard to get a refusal reason either.
Even so, the scholarship distribution must still be fair and transparent. It would be difficult to accept when the application of a student with an offer letter from a world’s top university is denied while someone with an offer letter from an unknown university is offered the scholarships.
As for those who refuse to return, maybe we can try taking strict legal actions and fine them heavily. Let’s see then who still dare to waste Malaysian taxpayers’ hard-earned money. — mysinchew.com
* This is the personal opinion of the writer or publication. The Malaysian Insider does not endorse the view unless specified.
