Public Service Department (PSD) overseas scholarship requires only 7A s (for JKPJ Special Programme) while domestic scholarships (P9 A+ Programme) require 9 A +?
This does not sound logical at all but this was the parliamentary answer Deputy Minister in the Prime Minister‘s Department Datuk SK Devamany had told the Parliament (Dewan Rakyat) on Apil 5, this year.
According to a statement issued by PSD director-general Datuk Seri Zainal Rahim Seman on March 19 this year, under the JKPJ Special programme, a total of 200 students will be sent to pursue engineering studies in Japan, South Korea, France and Germany.
http://www.thestar.com.my/news/nation/2017/03/19/spm-students-with-9-a-plus-psd-scholarships/
If Devamany had made a mistake in reading the reply in the Parliament, surely the PSD staff present in Parliament then would have alerted him to make the necessary correction. But this did not take place and it can then be concluded that he did not provide a wrong answer.
There are two questions that Devamany should explain, firstly why academic performance requirement for JKPK Special Programme is less stringent than P 9 A + Programme, and also why the difference is so vast?
Devamany should also explain why Ipoh top scorer Teh Xin Yi who scored 11A+ in all her subjects had failed in her application for the JKPJ Special Programme.
Teh whose plight was highlighted in the media 3 days ago had wanted to pursue electronics engineering course in Germany but had not been successful despite the fact she also has good record in her extracurricular activities. Her father is a technician and he mother works as a production controller in a factory.
Devamany and PSD must explain how she failed in her application when there are 200 scholarship places under the JKPJ Special Programme and Teh is one of the 102 students who had scored all A+ in all subjects taken in the 2016 SPM examination.