MCA and MIC want PSD to retain overseas undergrad scholarships

15/06/2010

KUALA LUMPUR: MCA and MIC want the Public Service Department to retain overseas undergraduate scholarships for Malaysian students.

Party Youth chief Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong said Tuesday the scholarships should continue.

Meanwhile, Bernama reported that MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu had also appealed to the government to reconsider its decision to phase out the scholarships for undergraduate studies overseas, saying that it would be “unfair and unjust to students from poor families”.

He urged the government to allocate additional scholarships for non-bumiputras, especially Indian students, under the PSD overseas degree scholarships for this year.

“These bright students, especially those from poor families, will be denied their dreams to pursue their studies at internationally-recognised universities worldwide,” he said in a statement here Tuesday.

The former Works Minister said he understood the financial constraints faced by the government, but with the government now giving priority to human capital development, this move would only reverse the policy.

Samy Vellu was commenting on Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Nazri Abdul Aziz’s statement Sunday that the government would phase out the 1,500 PSD scholarships for overseas degrees beginning next year.

Related Stories:
Nazri: Govt to cut down on scholarships to study overseas
Murugiah: Govt fair in awarding PSD scholarships

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DPM: Wait for cops to further probe JI bid to recruit students

15/06/2010

PENANG: Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin said Tuesday he was leaving it to the police to further investigate attempts by the Jemaah Islamiah (JI) terrorist group to recruit undergraduates and the local youth.

The deputy prime minister said he understood that Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan, Higher Education Minister Datuk Khaled Nordin and all the vice-chancellors of public and private institutions of higher learning would meet soon on the matter.

“A special briefing will be given at this meeting. It will discuss the form of cooperation among all parties to curb this unhealthy trend which can affect national security.

“This is a serious matter and cannot be viewed lightly. We leave it to the police, who safeguard national security, to conduct a thorough investigation,” he told reporters here Tuesday.

Earlier, he opened the St George’s Girl School’s International Students Conference (SGGS) 2010 at Dewan Budaya, Universiti Sains Malaysia (USM). On Monday, Musa had said that since the beginning of the year, police had detained 10 JI members who were trying to revive their struggle by recruiting undergraduates and local youth.

He said that all of them, from separate groups, were detained under the Internal Security Act (ISA) on suspicion of having links with international terrorist groups.

Muhyiddin said he hoped that the undergraduates would be more careful about such activities that were usually conducted without the knowledge of the university and campus authorities.

“The police have a lot of information and know their movements, so the cooperation of all parties is very important to safeguard national security,” he said. – Bernama

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PM: Scholarships for overseas undergraduate studies to be reduced

15/06/2010

BY IZATUN SHARI

KUALA LUMPUR: Scholarships for overseas undergraduate studies will gradually be reduced, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak.

He said the Government would now concentrate on awarding scholarships for overseas postgraduate studies.

“The Government’s position is that scholarships involving overseas programme will be concentrated on the post-graduate level, but it will be done gradually so that we can build up institutions of higher standing and ranking in this country,” he said after meeting with Islamic religious teachers here Tuesday.

“Scholarships for critical courses at undergraduate level will continue until the country builds the capacity of its local institutions,” he said when asked to comment on MCA asking the Government to give priority to awarding overseas scholarships to top scorers.

It was reported earlier that the Public Service Department (PSD)had delayed announcing the names of its scholarship recipients by a week, after meeting the MCA over applications sent by top SPM scorers.

During the meeting, MCA president Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek and Deputy Education Minister Datuk Dr Wee Ka Siong, who is the party’s Youth chief, brought up the cases of 1,304 students to PSD director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam.

The MCA Youth Education Bureau had put together the appeals over a week and those involved were students of all races.

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