PSD scholarships make no sense: Wee - Sun

by Kong See Hoh

KUALA LUMPUR (May 12, 2009) : MCA Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong (pix) says the way Public Services Department (PSD) awards scholarships "makes no sense", and wants the Cabinet to deliberate on the matter.

He also wants the department to be transparent and to explain in detail how the candidates were chosen, the Chinese press reported today.

Wee, who is deputy education minister, said the movement has already requested party chief Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat and the three other MCA ministers to raise the PSD scholarship topic at the Cabinet meeting tomorrow to determine if PSD has gone against the present government policy in awarding scholarships under the foreign degree programme.

He told reporters this at the party headquarters in Kuala Lumpur on Monday after receiving complaints that applicants with 14 A1s and 13 A1s were not awarded scholarships to study abroad but were offered courses in local universities or the matriculation programme.

The PSD interviewed 8,363 out of the 15,084 candidates who had applied for the 2,000 foreign degree scholarships up for grabs. The results of the PSD offer were made known last Friday.

He said the complainants were told by the department that their results were not good enough.
"But the students (complainants) told me their schoolmates with nine A1s were awarded scholarships!"

He said based on what Ong had earlier announced, that 20% or 400 of the 2,000 scholarships would be awarded to the top-scorers, the 52 Chinese who scored 13 A1s or better should have been selected.

For the 2008 SPM, three Chinese candidates obtained 16 A1s, two obtained 15 A1s, six scored 14 A1s and 41 received 13 A1s.

Wee urged the PSD to list the criteria for the selection of government scholars to pursue studies overseas.

Even if the department has other plans such as retaining some of the outstanding students to study in top universities in the country, it should not keep mum, he said, adding that this is, after all, an era when transparency is emphasised.

Wee also described as unfair a decision by PSD to require those awarded scholarships or those given alternative offers to study locally to reply within three day from May 8.

He urged applicants who were not successful to also appeal through the MCA Youth after having appealed directly to the department online.

They can download the appeal form from MCA Youth website (http://youth.mca.org.my) and submit the completed form, together with the relevant documents, to the movement's education bureau (Biro Pendidikan Pemuda MCA Kebangsaan, Tingkat 7, Wisa MCA, 163 Jalan Ampang, 50450 Kuala Lumpur) by tomorrow the latest.

Gerakan Youth secretary-general Dr Dominic Lau also urged PSD to be more transparent in awarding scholarships.

He expressed regret that the department failed to provide acceptable reasons why it rejected the applications of five straight As students from Malacca.

Meanwhile, PSD Director-General Tan Sri Ismail Adam said the department will arrange for some of the high-achievers who were not awarded scholarships to study overseas to pursue their studies in local universities, such as Monash University.

He told Sin Chew that some 8,000 applicants fulfilled the PSD scholarship criteria but with only 2,000 places, "some people will definitely be disappointed".

"All of them are good academically and are separated only by their points in extra-curricular activities, interview and family economic background."