The government is continuing to sponsor students with excellent Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) 2009 results through Public Service Department (JPA) scholarships to pursue their first degree locally or abroad. said Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin.

He said the scholarships were focused on critical fields such as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary, engineering, science and technology and social sciences.

NONE "This is because manpower in these fields is much required by the public service sector and the country," Muhyiddin ( left ) said in a statement issued by the Deputy Prime Minister's office today.

The JPA scholarship programme consists of two schemes, namely the Overseas Undergraduate Scholarship Programme (PILN) and the Local Undergraduate Scholarship Programme (PIDN).

Under the PILN, the government has allocated 1,500 spots for SPM-leavers with distinctions in nine subjects, whereby applications were made on the JPA website www.jpa.gov.my from March 11 to 17.

The scholarships offered are based on academic achievements, involvement in co-curriculum activities, socio-economic background of the families and the candidate's performance during an interview session.

Muhyiddin, who is also education minister, said JPA received 18,844 applications for the PILN 2010, of which 10,956 candidates surpassed the minimum requirement of the field of study.

He said a majority of candidates chose to pursue medical and engineering courses, while popular study destinations were the United Kingdom (UK), Australia and New Zealand.

As many as 847 spots were allocated for critical courses such as medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy in countries such as Australia, New Zealand, India, Czech Republic and Poland, while 410 spots were given to engineering courses in France, Germany and the United States (US), said Muhyiddin.

He said results of applications were announced on May 21, whereby 59 students had rejected their offers while 4,298 appeals were received, of which 1,218 were from candidates who obtained 9A+.

Muhyiddin said Prime Minister  Najib Abdul Razak had agreed with a proposal to sponsor an additional 250 students under the PILN, which brings the total to 1,750.

For the Local Undergraduate Scholarship Programme (PIDN), 100 JPA scholarships were provided to SPM-leavers furthering their studies at one of four research universities which are Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Malaya (UM).

In addition to that, 1,900 scholarships were offered to top scorers not selected under the PILN to pursue critical and strategic programmes in local varsities and selected campuses such as the University of Nottingham and Monash University.

He said these students will be sponsored through the matriculation or pre-university stage and then through the first degree should they meet academic requirements during the preparation level.

SPM-leavers who have not been offered scholarships under the PILN still have the opportunity to apply for sponsorship under the PIDN, should they be offered a place for a diploma or first degree programme in local universities.

- Bernama