The Public Service Department (JPA) has recently dropped another bombshell on its scholarship offers, that all scholarships from 2016 will be in the form of convertible loans .

Upon completion of their studies, JPA scholars are mandated to work in the public sector. If they choose to work in government-linked companies (GLCs) or in the private sector, they will have to pay back 50 percent or 100 percent of the scholarship amount respectively.

Such policies are actually not an entirely new concept.

Many JPA or government scholars in the past have been made to sign contracts that necessitate them to work in the public sector if they are offered a job within a period of time after their studies - failing which, they are required to pay back the scholarship amount.

In any case, the recently announced JPA “convertible loan” policy is unjustifiable and should be reviewed immediately.

First, it is mind-boggling to see that another government agency, Talent Corporation Malaysia Bhd (TalentCorp), is doing the reverse. Its ‘Scholarship Talent Attraction and Retention (Star)’ programme helps government scholars to serve their scholarship bond with leading private sector - instead of public sector - companies “as a way of contributing back to the nation”.

According to TalentCorp’s website , there are a total of 1,681 Star private/GLC employers.

Why has JPA made it compulsory for scholars to serve their bond in the public sector, while on another hand, TalentCorp helps them to “escape” by connecting them to jobs in GLCs and the private sector?

Why the double work? Why waste taxpayers’ monies for TalentCorp to run the Star programme when JPA can only allow their scholars to serve their bonds in Malaysia?

Under-performers rewarded?

Second, the terms and conditions of the convertible loans are unjustifiable as it may lead to using taxpayers’ monies to reward under-performers.

Under such a policy, students with 2.8 cumulative grade point average (CGPA) - who can’t get a job in the private sector, but can only wait for one in the public sector - will be able to get the scholarship for free, while a highly competent student with a 3.8 CGPA, who has been hired by a multi-national company through many rounds of competitive interviews, will be forced to pay back the scholarship amount in full.

If convertible loans is unavoidable, then the payback amount must be performance-based (academic and non-academic) and not based on which sphere the scholars choose to work in - public sector, GLCs or private sector, as long as they are in Malaysia.

Third, I believe that this policy that forces all our top brains to work for the government would not best serve our national economic agenda. I believe that the role of the private sector is equally, if not more important, than the public sector in driving the nation’s economy.

To move out from the middle income trap, Malaysia needs to change quickly to a knowledge-intensive and innovation-led economy.

This would be impossible when we have a major scholarship policy that penalises our top brains for getting involved in the private sector and entrepreneurial ventures.

Under such a system, we may force a talented JPA scholar - who has just done a ground-breaking research that can be commercialised through a highly potential start-up - to pay back the scholarship because he/she starts a business instead of working for the government. This is completely illogical.

In order for Malaysia to be competitive in the international arena, we urgently need to manage our talents better.

With that, we urge Putrajaya to review its unjustifiable JPA scholarship policy to ensure that Malaysian talents are given the opportunities to reach their full potentials on this land in order to best serve our country.

YEO BEE YIN is the state assemblyperson for Damansara Utama.