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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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