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DAPSY commends Hishammuddin for calling the Public Services Department
(PSD) to make public the criteria for awarding scholarships but the
call should be extended for criteria for entrance into public
universities and the various courses.
Media
Statement
by Loke Siew Fook
(Petaling
Jaya,
Friday):
DAPSY commends
Hishammuddin for calling the Public Services Department (PSD) to make public
the criteria for awarding scholarships but the call should be extended for
criteria for entrance into public universities and the various courses.
The call by Education Minister Datuk Seri Hishammuddin Tun Hussein to make
public the objectives and criteria for awarding Public Services Department
scholarships to avoid confusion and uncertainty among applicants in the
future is most welcomed and shall be commended.
He has correctly pointed out that this has become a seasonal problem and
every year hundreds of deserving students failed to get their scholarships
despite their excellent results and they have to resort to make their appeal
publicly through the media to get the attentions of the top government
leaders. This has become a very unhealthy trend and something is very wrong
in our system of governance if a simple process of giving out scholarships
to the brightest students needs the interference of the Prime Minister.
Thus, the call by Hishammuddin is timely and a step in the right direction
to put an end to the yearly problem faced by the hundreds of students.
However, it is most disappointing that he said PSD could not award
scholarships to all top students as it faced constraints. It's ironic that
while the country can spend hundreds of millions to build "first-world
infrastructure", it could not in the same time spend hundreds of millions to
develop "first-world brains".
DAPSY must remind Hishammuddin and PSD that one of the main agendas laid by
the Badawi Administration is to focus on human development in the country.
The statement by Hishammuddin and the decision by PSD to limit the
scholarships is just the direct opposite of the Prime Minister's agenda.
It is a laughing-stock of the country if the top students are invited to sit
in the same table with the Prime Minister and Cabinet Ministers for a
luncheon organised by the Prime Minister's Office to acknowledge their
achievements but later were told they are not qualified to get scholarships
from the government. Isn't this a mockery of the sincerity in the part of
the government to honour meritocracy?
Hishammuddin also urged groups and individuals not to take advantage of the
situation to gain political mileage. It is not the opposition but some
aspiring politicians in the Barisan Nasional particularly from the MCA Youth
who tried to accumulate political capitals out of the problem but treating
this issue as an annual ritual by so-called "appealing" to the government on
behalf of the affected students but did nothing to stop the root cause of
the problem.
Although we welcome Hishammuddin's call but it still not enough just to make
public the criteria for awarding PSD scholarships. Another more pressing
problem faced by the tens of thousands of pre-university students every year
is the criteria or "cutting points" for the admissions into public
universities especially the critical courses such as medicine, law and
engineering. The "cutting points" has always been a "big secret" and was
never made public for students to do their reference before they submit
their applications and this has resulted many students with good grades
complained that they were not offered places for courses they applied over
the years.
This is certainly a lack of transparency in the part of the government and
the public universities and thus all "cutting points" into each faculty or
courses in all the public universities in the country must be made public.
Although higher education is not under the portfolio of the Education
Minister, this shall not be a deterrent for Hishammuddin to make the
proposal in the next Cabinet meeting given his standing as the UMNO Youth
Chief and one of the rising stars in UMNO and what he said shall bring more
weight than the Higher Education Minister, Datuk Dr. Shafie Salleh.
DAPSY strongly calls on Hishammuddin to personally push for this proposal
for the interests of all Malaysians and this is certainly a strong dose for
higher education reform and demonstrates that the government is serious
about transparency and good governance in the country.
(17/6/2005)
* Loke Siew
Fook, DAPSY National Secretary and Negeri Sembilan State Assemblyman for
Lobak .
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