A group of Indian NGOs urged the government to abolish racial quotas for Public Services Department (PSD) scholarships and award all tops scorers with scholarships to pursue courses of their choice overseas.
The Malaysian Indian Students Association (Misa) regretted the “unfair treatment” of students with “excellent academic and extra-curricular achievements”.“Year after year, we are faced with the same problem. There seems to be no resolution to this,” said Misa president Kishur Goonasaran. “Students strive hard to achieve good results but instead of rewarding them for all the hard work, they are given less than satisfactory choices or none at all,” he said.
The government had given its commitment that all students who scored 8A+ will be awarded scholarships, but Misa insisted that since the number is just a little over 600 annually, the state should not limit the award to just 300. “Ethnic-based vetting is sickening. They (the government) are talking about '1Malaysia' that we are all the same and equal, why is there then such standards?” asked Kishur.Yesterday, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department Mohd Nazri Aziz said that there are a total of 1,500 overseas scholarships but only 300 of the total were given based entirely on merit to students scoring straight 9A+.
Nazri, who also regulates PSD, added that 16,900 applications from students who sat for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) last year were received by the department and only 8,857 met the minimum qualifications of 9A+. Successful candidates are divided into four categories - merit (20 percent), racial composition (60 percent), Sabah/Sarawak bumiputera (five percent each state) and socially disadvantaged (10 percent).
Misa, in its press conference in Kuala Lumpur today, said that they have proof to show that the vetting process is not transparent, as 9A+ and 1A scorer Heamanthaa Padmanaban was denied a chance to study medicine.The 17-year-old was instead offered to take up Diploma in English at University Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI). Meanwhile, another 9A+ scorer, Anusiya Chandra, was not given any form of sponsorship from PSD.Misa and a group of other NGOs will also march to Putrajaya on May 30 to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister's Department to urge for an immediate solution.
'Make use of Talent Corp'
Misa also badgered the government to answer why it had established Talent Corporation Malaysia (Talent Corp) when there is clearly no interest to stop the brain-drain in the country.“The number of Chinese migrating to Singapore and Australia is increasing year to year. Foreign nations are capitalising on our intellectuals. “If this treatment goes on, no one will come back to serve this country and why should they?” asked Kishur. Similar concerns were aired by the opposition DAP to transfer the PSD's responsibility to manage the disbursement of scholarships to Talent Corp.
Kishur also urged the PSD to release the names of all scholarship applicants, including those who had failed to win the scholarships, and to have them published in mainstream newspapers. “If the government say it doesn't have enough funds to support these student, we will help, in fact we will even run a charity drive to raise the money,” he added. However, Kishur said it would be much more convenient if the government presses its government-linked companies (GLCs) to fulfill their corporate social responsibility by assisting the aspiring future generation.
The Malaysian Indian Students Association (Misa) regretted the “unfair treatment” of students with “excellent academic and extra-curricular achievements”.“Year after year, we are faced with the same problem. There seems to be no resolution to this,” said Misa president Kishur Goonasaran. “Students strive hard to achieve good results but instead of rewarding them for all the hard work, they are given less than satisfactory choices or none at all,” he said.
Nazri, who also regulates PSD, added that 16,900 applications from students who sat for Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) last year were received by the department and only 8,857 met the minimum qualifications of 9A+. Successful candidates are divided into four categories - merit (20 percent), racial composition (60 percent), Sabah/Sarawak bumiputera (five percent each state) and socially disadvantaged (10 percent).
Misa, in its press conference in Kuala Lumpur today, said that they have proof to show that the vetting process is not transparent, as 9A+ and 1A scorer Heamanthaa Padmanaban was denied a chance to study medicine.The 17-year-old was instead offered to take up Diploma in English at University Pendidikan Sultan Idris (UPSI). Meanwhile, another 9A+ scorer, Anusiya Chandra, was not given any form of sponsorship from PSD.Misa and a group of other NGOs will also march to Putrajaya on May 30 to submit a memorandum to the Prime Minister's Department to urge for an immediate solution.
'Make use of Talent Corp'
Misa also badgered the government to answer why it had established Talent Corporation Malaysia (Talent Corp) when there is clearly no interest to stop the brain-drain in the country.“The number of Chinese migrating to Singapore and Australia is increasing year to year. Foreign nations are capitalising on our intellectuals. “If this treatment goes on, no one will come back to serve this country and why should they?” asked Kishur. Similar concerns were aired by the opposition DAP to transfer the PSD's responsibility to manage the disbursement of scholarships to Talent Corp.
Kishur also urged the PSD to release the names of all scholarship applicants, including those who had failed to win the scholarships, and to have them published in mainstream newspapers. “If the government say it doesn't have enough funds to support these student, we will help, in fact we will even run a charity drive to raise the money,” he added. However, Kishur said it would be much more convenient if the government presses its government-linked companies (GLCs) to fulfill their corporate social responsibility by assisting the aspiring future generation.
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