Subscribe in a reader | Subscribe by Email Hmm….every year also same drama. One just have to search the Internet to see many cases of students from all races complaining about the rejection.
Why is there no solution for this problem? MIC’s Dr S.Subra suggesting automatic scholarship offer for those who get 10As and above. MCA and Gerakan still quiet as with opposition.
Transparency is the key here. People deserve to know why things happen as such. Then, they should be able to give feedback and rectify the errors or shortcomings. Unfortunately, information flow is not so free as it is worried that the public is not smart enough to understand things.
High achievers question rejection
IPOH: Emotions ran high at a meeting between state executive council members and 21 high achievers, whose applications for further studies and Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships were rejected. The 21, who had scored between nine and 12 As in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, had come with their parents from Negri Sembilan, Penang and Kedah to meet with Higher Education, Science, Technology and Communication Committee chairman Thomas Su Keong Siong; Health, Environment and Human Resources Committee chairman A. Siva-nesan, Perak assembly speaker V. Sivakumar and Buntong state assemblyman A. Sivasubramaniam after the issue was raised a few days ago.
As they had excellent grades and were active in co-curricular activities, they wanted to know why their applications were rejected. They were not given places in matriculation courses or local universities, and failed to get PSD scholarships.
Sivanesan said: “We are compiling data on the students and their academic achievements, and the state government will make an appeal to the PSD and the Higher Education Ministry.” Sivanesan said they plan to take the students to meet minister Datuk Khaled Nordin, and DAP MPs will raise the issue in Parliament.
He said students who scored nine As and more should automatically receive a PSD scholarship. Most of the parents are from the lower-income group, and are disappointed that after all their hard work their children cannot further their studies.
The students were not told why their applications were rejected, or why they were not given the courses they wanted, and all have appealed.
R. Joseph Joshua Ishbar, 17, who had travelled with his father from Kulim, said: “I scored 12 As in SPM and wanted to do medicine but my application to the PSD was rejected without any reason being given.” “I was asked to consider other courses, but I’m not interested.”
K. Kanmine Devi, 18, from Sitiawan raised the issue with the Perak government. She scored 10 As in SPM but her application to the PSD to study medicine was rejected. Su urged the PSD and the Education Ministry to be transparent and publish the names of the students who had been awarded scholarships and gained entry into matriculation classes.
Meanwhile, in IPOH, more than 30 dissatisfied students and their parents travelled from as far as Kulim and even Port Klang to meet with Perak Government representatives on the matter.
B. Nageswary, 18, who has severe gastric problems whenever she is under pressure, said she fell ill again when she found that the Public Service Department had rejected her scholarship application despite scoring 10As in the SPM.
Her mother K. Malah, 44, said her husband has diabetes and works as a machine operator. “We do not earn much,” she said tearfully.
Another 10As scorer Malinda Jeet Kaur, 17, from SMK Raja Perempuan, who developed bleeding ulcers in her stomach when she was in Form Three, said her father was a lorry driver, while her mother did not work and they had to support her grandmother who is on dialysis. “I know they have no money to support me so I did all I could. What more does the Government want from me, from us all?” she asked.
Perak Health, Environment and Human Resources Committee chairman A. Sivanesan said the state government would make an appointment with Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin to find a solution to the problem.
