PSD scholarships: Old problem, no solution

Around mid-year since the 1980s, the offices of DAP and MCA are inevitably flooded with complaints from parents and students.

Their main grouse - that government scholarships are awarded on a race-based approach and not on meritocracy - has also been hijacked by political parties to gain mileage.

Due to the negative perception attached to the awarding of government scholarships, non-bumiputera students grow up instinctively knowing that they have to be top-scorers to ace government study grants.

As such, they tend to neglect extra-curricular activities. While this has certainly produced the ‘brains', students tend to lack social and communication skills and a broad world view.

To overcome financial problems, Malaysian students apply for grants from other countries such as Australia, the UK, the US, Singapore, Canada.

Upon graduation, most choose to work in the countries of their sponsorship. Although not new, this trend has caused Malaysia to lose talent.

No concrete actions are in sight to tackle the controversies and problems that have arisen from a genuine need for higher education among Malaysians.

Why the brain drain

Ho, a medical student at a local university, said he had to allot one- third of his day for tuition classes - an extra effort before the SPM exam - knowing that government scholarships are difficult to obtain even for those who score straight As.

He said he knew he was spending less time on extra-curricular activities but he had no choice.

"PSD is a well-known scholarship for those who obtain straight A1s in their SPM," he said.

He added his family was disappointed when found he didn't obtain the PSD grant.

"Of course, I was disappointed too after all the sacrifices that I had made for my studies," he said.

He didn't care to appeal PSD's decision, and instead went on to Form Six before pursuing pharmaceutical studies at a local private university.

He said he prefers scholarships offered by large, private organisations to which students are not bonded following their graduation.

PSD scholarships allow Malaysians to pursue their studies abroad. On completion of their studies, the students must serve the government for an allotted period of time.

Of those who appealed to PSD through MCA this year, 61 were successful, Education Bureau secretary Chong Sin Woon ( left ) told Malaysiakini .

Following a central committee meeting in May, MCA president Ong Tee Keat explained that the reasons for the overwhelming complaints about PSD were due to the selcetion criteria and lack of transparency.

Ong had said the government announced that it would allocate 60 percent of the 2,000 PSD scholarships based on racial quota, 20 percent on academic performance, 10 percent for bumiputera students in Sabah and Sarawak, and 10 percent for underprivileged students.

However, his statement was contested the following day by PSD director-general Ismail Adam who said: "I think he (Ong) may have confused it with the distribution of scholarships. We practise a meritocracy system with the criteria: academic (75 percent), co-curricular activities (10 percent), family background (10 percent) and interview (five percent)."

"From PSD's point of view, students with 16 1As are no better than those who get nine 1As," Chong said.

"This is because some schools restrict the students to nine subjects for the SPM. In one case, the students scored straight 1As.

"Therefore, we know that the number of 1As you get is not the only determining factor, but we really do not know how the PSD decides who is better."

As there are no clear guidelines on the PSD selection criteria, applicants can only hazard a guess as to why some succeed and others fail.

What is there to hide?

"I have no idea of the reasons for this (lack of transparency)," Tony Pua, member of Parliament for Petaling Jaya Utara asked, when contacted.

"Is there anything to hide? Or, is there incompetence in their decision and processes that they are afraid to let the public know?

"It does not matter that 55 percent of the (PSD) scholarship receivers are bumiputeras, and 45 percent of them are not. What matters is that the public has the right to know the details of how the successful applicants are selected."

Last year, Minister in the PM's Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz announced that PSD scholarships would be awarded based on a 55:45 ratio between bumiputeras and non-bumiputeras, a change from the previous ratio of 90:10.

Former applicants said they think PSD has chosen to remain secret to avoid dissatisfaction among students and their parents.

"Most probably it is because PSD did not base its selection on the criteria that they announced to the public," speculated a student who failed in his application.

According to Pua, other factors contributing to the controversies in PSD scholarships are the excess demand, coupled with the lack of planning and organisation in PSD.

In 2008, about 15,220 students applied for PSD scholarships after the release of their SPM results. Of this, 7,282 students were shortlisted for interviews for a mere 2,000 scholarship slots.

The other nagging issue with PSD is the three-day period given to students to accept or decline the offer without letting students know which country they will be heading to. Usually, the offer would be released over the weekend, which has made it difficult for students to contact the authorities for further details.

"This has been a complete mess if you ask me. The PSD certainly has not handled the scholarship matters well," Pua said.

Unfair criteria being used

Meanwhile, there are suggestions to remove family income as a criterion for PSD scholarships as it could be unfair to those from a wealthy background.

Pua agreed with this suggestion, stating that: "We cannot say that rich students who perform well do not deserve the PSD scholarships because of their family background.

"If PSD emphasises too much on family income when making decisions, rich and talented students will end up going to countries like Singapore for their studies, and we will lose talents in Malaysia."

To reduce the problems, Pua urged the government to award scholarships to students based on their pre-university results such as STPM and ‘A' levels instead of SPM.

The fact that the number of students scoring straight As for STPM is always fewer than for SPM, PSD would not have to deal with so many deserving students, while the number of dissatisfied students and parents could be reduced.

Chong agreed with Pua by further suggesting that the government should allow the students freedom to apply for local or foreign universities of their choice. Once such students are enrolled into the universities, then PSD could grant them the scholarships.

"As a result of this, the powers will move from PSD to the top universities in Malaysia and around the world. PSD can then be more cost- and time-efficient in its planning and organisation," he added.