KUCHING: Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Mohd Yassin said only SPM graduates with very good results were selected for the Public Service Department (JPA) scholarships under the Program Ijazah Luar Negara.
“Some clarification has to be made here. What was meant by JPA was that those with really good grades such as A++ (or A plus plus) will be offered and not any ordinary A or A- (or A minus), no
matter how many As they scored.
“There are many parents coming to see me asking why their children were not offered scholarship and after checking, we found out that their results did not meet the necessary criteria,” he said.
Muhyiddin, who is Education Minister, told reporters this when asked to respond to a complaint from an 18-year-old SPM graduate from here who failed to get the scholarship although he obtained 9A plus in his SPM examination.
He said that should not have been the case as those with the highest grade have all been offered with JPA scholarships.
He explained that since the SPM result last year was the best so far with more students scoring good grades and because of that, JPA has to be more selective in offering scholarships since the seats were also limited.
“However, for this case, it could have been due to some misunderstanding but we still have some other forms of scholarships to offer and those eligible can also apply,” he said.
Yesterday The Borneo Post highlighted the plight of the teenager Selwyn Jong Yik Chau who claimed that JPA offer was not only inferior but also a conditional and double matriculation offer.
“What makes me unhappy is that the JPA offer was inferior. Now I also ask what had happened to the promise that they would be offering straight-A students with scholarships and a place in universities,” Jong questioned.
He was also upset because his friends and acquaintances who scored the same result managed to obtain university placing and looked at it as being unfair to him.
Jong said the worst part was that there was no reason given for the rejection of his application and he was also not allowed to appeal.
Yesterday, he even met up with DAP secretary Chong Chieng Jen who is also Bandar Kuching MP to express his disappointment with JPA.
Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud was among those present at the media conference at the Borneo Convention Centre Kuching (BCCK) here yesterday.