The government has stepped in to stem the growing controversy around the disbursement of Public Services Department (PSD) scholarships, repeating Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak’s pledge that all students who scored at least 8A+ in last year’s SPM exams will be sponsored.

NONE Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Mohd Nazri Abdul Aziz ( left ) said the government is prepared to give out a total of 12,000 scholarships to help students finish their first degree, brushing aside claims of abuse of power by PSD officers in selecting candidates.

The scholarships include 1,500 for students pursuing degrees abroad, 2,500 for those studying in local universities and 8,000 for diploma courses that can later continue into a degree programme, he told a press conference at Parliament’s tower block.

“All this must be explained to avoid confusion... we even have some confusion in the government,” he quipped.

azlan He was referring to Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong, who has been a vocal critic of alleged mishandling of scholarship disbursements by PSD staff.

Perceived unfairness is a recurring issue in picking government scholars, with many allegations having been thrown at the PSD and the government over the years, ranging from abuse of power to corruption in the selection process.

This year has been no different, with the exception of more vocal objections from BN component party leaders - especially Wee .

They have joined the chorus of protests from opposition politicians who have accused PSD officials of being ‘little Napoleons’.

      

Nazri said it is normal for politicians to air public grievances over the issue, but repeated that these views were made without fully understanding the system.

Strict selection for study abroad

Going into a lengthy briefing on the selection process, he said the cream of the crop would be first considered for the overseas degree programme - which offers a total of 1,500 scholarships.

azlan Successful candidates are divided into four categories - merit (20 percent), racial composition (60 percent), Sabah/Sarawak bumiputera (five percent each state) and social disadvantaged (10 percent).

Nazri said 16,900 applications were received but only 8,857 met the minimum qualifications of 9A+.

Those who were selected on merit scored no less then 9A+, he said.

Those from the shortlist who did not make the cut still qualified for the local degree programme, which offers 2,500 scholarships under the accelerated programme for excellence at top local universities and local branches of foreign universities.

And if students again are not selected for the second programme, Nazri gave his assurance that they would be sponsored to pursue a diploma course - which will extend to a degree programme, provided the student does well.

Nazri further note azlan d that students may not necessarily be offered their chosen courses, as much depends on whether this falls under the PSD’s list of critical courses and, if so, whether or not the student’s average reaches the minimum requirement.

The PSD’s focus includes medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, engineering, science and technology and several areas under social sciences.

“Even if a student applies, for example, for medicine, we have different (academic) requirements for each field. For medicine, it has to be at least 96 percent, so if a student scores below that, there is no chance,” said the minister.

Nazri said scoring an A+ in more than nine SPM subjects will not add leverage to a student’s application, as the selection criteria is based on nine core subjects that are relevant to the student’s preferred field of study.

“We must remember that because these are PSD scholarships, we must follow the courses that the PSD considers critical. It is our scholarship, so we decide what course needs to be taken.

“Don’t think that when a student gets a good result, the student can take whatever he or she wants and the PSD pays... that's not how it works.”

Nazri said PSD has finalised the list of overseas degree scholarship recipients, but noted that there was still room for students to appeal to change the courses offered under the local degree and diploma programmes.

“The courses must be tailored to our needs, but if we feel we are quite comfortable with the numbers, we can always look at other courses,” he said, adding that students who wished to appeal should do so now, before their courses start.

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