Senior students holding placards to guide new students during the registration process.
BETONG: A total of 105 students were offered places to further their studies at Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) this year.
Comprised of twelve Form 4 pupils and the rest Form One, the new intake was the highest recorded by the institution since its establishment some six years ago, disclosed principal Mohd Zaki Ab Rashid during the registration of the new intake yesterday.
Zaki also expected a few more students to be offered to study at MRSM Betong, as those who were not successful were given an opportunity to appeal.
He hoped all 105 students would accept the offer and advised those who did not turn up to register yesterday to do so soon.
“Though the date fixed for the registration of new intakes has passed, we will still allow those who couldn’t make it to register in the next few days.
“Some might have been unable to register yesterday due to flood related reasons, hence we do not mind giving them more time (to register),” he added.
However, if the reason for not turning up to register was financial constraint, he advised these students to discuss the matter with the school.
“They can register first and pay the registration fee of RM333 later.
“We will look into all possible avenues to help these needy students.
“For example, those eligible can apply for pocket money allowance and exemptions from paying the boarding fee, ” he said.
“To us in MRSM Betong, we do not accept financial constraint as a reason to stop them from studying here,” he reiterated.
Those offered to study at MRSM should consider themselves fortunate as they are chosen from a large number of applicants, stated Zaki.
According to him, the school receives over 23,000 applications to enrol into Form One every year, but could accommodate only 8,000.
“Furthermore, only 3,000 students from a pool of 16,000 applicants who applied to study in Form Four are accepted.
“Another reason why local students should not reject the offer is because the minimum entry requirement for Sarawakian students has been relaxed to 3As and 2Bs for the Form One intake and 6As 2Bs for the Form Four intake,” he added.