Posts Tagged ‘Education’

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Begging successful

June 7th, 2008
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Initially, it was well reported only 34 students got the PSD’s 2000 overseas scholarship, with 194 having appealed. Later, the figure increased to 72 Indians students, with 187 appeals. Now the figures are upped to 161 and Datuk S.Subra has the gall to say that is more than last year! He totally misses the point that the students had to appeal and MIC leaders had to BEG for it! Isn’t that humiliating enough? Or is this some sandiwara to show MIC relevance? I seriously hope not since the makkal are past this kind of drama already. They are smart enough to make use of politicians and party. Come election time, makkal will teach them a lesson again.

Hopefully those who appealed really deserves it on merit instead of qualifying under some sort of quota for MIC. That will make us look like handout seekers and quota-dependent like the the privileged community.

Anyway, one good thing is that all 9As and above students will get scholarship to study in one way or another.

KUALA LUMPUR: The Public Services Department (PSD) has offered scholarships to 161 Indian students with excellent results in the 2007 Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) to pursue their studies overseas, Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam said here. He said only 120 Indian students were offered scholarships last year.

In a statement, Dr Subramaniam said he met PSD director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam yesterday over appeals by Indian students unsuccessful in getting scholarships. On May 21, MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu met Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan to appeal on behalf of 187 Indian students who were unsuccessful in their scholarship applications.

Dr Subramaniam said the PSD had also stated that all SPM students who obtained 9As and above last year would be offered scholarships to study basic science courses in local public universities and four university campuses recognised by the JPA – Monash, Nottingham, Curtin University of Technology and Swinburne.  He said the scholarships would also be given automatically to students who had obtained places in Ivy League universities and other similar universities overseas.  He urged all SPM students who had got 9As and above to go to the JPA website to find out whether they had obtained scholarships to study in local universities.

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Mugilan aims for the stars

June 7th, 2008
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Well, this is one case where MIED helped the guy with some financial support in terms of loan. Perhaps MIC should use him as an ambassador 🙂

This guy wrote to various people for financial help, but not sure if those letters ended up in the correct place. Obviously those affected will have to provide reasons why he was not offered any help.

Anyway, all the best to Mugilan. May the force be with you!

Mugilan: I’ll be exploring space by 2018
S Pathmawathy | Jun 7, 08 3:11pmhttp://malaysiakini.com/news/84128

Mugilan Re Ko is geared to set himself apart from the common by pursuing his childhood fantasy: to look down at planet Earth from outer space. The 20 year-old aeronautical student is confident that nothing can hamper his dreams of becoming an astronaut by 2018.

“This has been my dream since I was five and I know I wouldn’t be happy unless I pursue my dream,” he said in an interview with Malaysiakini. Amazed and captivated by a picture book on space travel given to him during his toddler days, Mugilan explained his only aspiration ever since was to be involved in exploring the universe.

The beginning

“My dad taught me to think big and to aim big. Nothing’s impossible when one’s heart is in the right place,” he asserted. Mugilan said with the support of his parents and sibling, he was always encouraged to only work towards the best in pursuit of his dreams. » Read more: Mugilan aims for the stars

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MIC Saravanan asks for PSD scholarship quota

June 4th, 2008
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Before I go into Saravanan’s proposal, lets look at the statistics – only 34 Indians got the scholarship first, before being increased to 78. There are 180 appeals pending.

Now, why would PSD want to provide quota for the Indian community? Then, others like the Orang Asli, Kadazan, Bajau, Baba Nyonya, etc. will start demanding their part from the “bumiputra” category. This will erode the portion and break up the quota further, and may deprive more Malays of their previously easily obtained scholarships.

Secondly, there should some basis for asking 250 places for the community. Is there any proof that we have 250 top achievers year after year that should be getting scholarship? Is 250 derived from some sort of formula based on Einstenian calculation?

However I agree that interview component of the scholarship award is highly subjective and may be subject to manipulation.

Instead of asking for quota, Saravanan should ask for transparency, a well represented board of interviewers, an increase in scholarship amount or a more stringent criteria.

KUALA LUMPUR: The government must not lump Indians in the non-Bumiputera category, but fix the number of Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships for the community, MIC information chief Datuk M. Saravanan said yesterday.
He said under the present system, of the 2,000 PSD scholarships awarded annually, 55 per cent was allocated for Bumiputeras and the remaining 45 per cent for non-Bumiputeras.”Out of the 900 PSD scholarships for non-Bumiputeras, Indians initially received only 34, which was then increased to 70. We are now awaiting the results of about 180 appeal cases.”The Indians are already backward in terms of education, but yet we have to compete with all the other non-Bumis. The government should allocate, on an annual basis, 250 PSD scholarships for Indians,” Saravanan, who is also Federal Territories Deputy Minister, said.

“The current selection system is also flawed. The exam results constitute 70 per cent of the eligibility marks for the PSD scholarships. The rest is made up of the interview and such, which is very subjective.
“The people want transparency. If a student is the best, then he or she must be eligible for the scholarship. Now, we have students who have scored excellent marks but turned down by the PSD on the pretext that they failed in the interview.

“That half-an-hour interview decides a student’s fate. It might have taken students five years or more to obtain excellent results. Is that fair? It is not a level playing field.” – Bernama

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Giat Mara and Insken Indian grads urged to apply TEKUN loan

June 4th, 2008
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Its a bad statistic indeed if only 10 out of 300 students (3.3%) applied for the loan scheme. What could be the reasons?

– not interested?

– don’t know how/where/when/why?

– loan rules too strict/rigid?

MIC can’t be faulted here unless they did not provide awareness or proper information to the students.

RM3 million / 300 students is averaging  RM10000 per graduate, which is quite a substantial amount to start small business like food stall or similar business that require less capital and investment in machineries/tools.

Only 10 of the 300 Indian students who graduated from the Giat Mara centres and National Entrepreneurship Institute (Insken) last year have applied for business loans under the Young Indian Entrepreneurs Loan Scheme run by Tekun Foundation, says MIC President Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu.
He urged the remaining 290 students to apply for the loan from Tekun or the National Foundation for Economic Fund Group under the Entrepreneur and Cooperative Development Ministry.

“Yayasan Tekun has allocated RM3 million to be disbursed as business loans for graduates of Pusat Giat Mara and Insken,” he said in a statement today.

He said the Tekun Foundation decided to issue business loans to Indian students from Giat Mara centres and Insken following discussions between the foundation and the Social Strategic Foundation (YSS), MICs social arm, last year.

Samy Vellu said although the Tekun Foundation was meant for Bumiputera entrepreneurs, its management decided to open its business loans for Indians through the help of the then Entrepreneur Development Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz.
He said qualified Indians engaged in small-and medium-scale businesses can apply for the loan to start or to sustain and expand their businesses, ranging from small cottage to modern technological industries, food, agriculture, manufacturing and handicraft for domestic and foreign markets.

Enterprising young Indian entrepreneurs can contact YSS at Level 5, Menara Manickavasagam, at No 1, Jalan Rahmat, 50350 Kuala Lumpur, telephone (03) 4041-5958 or Fax (03) 4041-5681.

source

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NLFCS willing to transfer land for Tamil Schools sake

June 3rd, 2008
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I guess NLFCS is taking the first step to aid in conversion of partially-aided schools to full-aided status. Other plantation owners should follow suit. With the rising price of palm oil and rubber, surely a bit of corporate social responsibility is in order. Once converted, the government cannot simply wash its hands off these schools.

But why does it take NLFCS such a long time to come to this decision? Surprising that an Indian based cooperative was unable to do so earlier. Rather than spending RM5 million all this while, it could have given the land to government and helped out in other ways.

THE National Land Finance Cooperative Society (NLFCS) is willing to give land to eight Tamil schools if the Government fully supports the schools.

Tamil Nesan quoted its executive director Tan Sri K.R. Somasundram as saying that the board of directors had agreed to a proposal to transfer the land to the schools for the sake of the children’s education.

He said that currently the Government was only giving partial aid to Tamil schools as many were situated on private land.

He said it was the expectation of the Indian community that Tamil schools be fully-aided schools to enable the pupils to study in a conducive environment.

He said NLFCS had spent nearly RM5mil to maintain schools under its supervision.

source

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