Grants for top scorers in the spotlight

Under new criteria only those who score A+ in all subjects in SPM 2016 are eligible

PETALING JAYA: The Government scholarship granted to SPM top scorers has come under the spotlight following the tightening of a condition.

For SPM 2016, only those achieving A+ for all the subjects taken will get the Public Service Department (PSD) sponsorship, according to its eSila portal.

This means, a student taking 10 subjects for SPM and scoring 9A+ and 1A, will not qualify for the scholarship.

This is different from the criterion for SPM 2015 top scorers and the batches before – where full sponsorship was given as long as a student scored 9A+ and above.

Originally called the Bursary Graduate Programme, the reward system has been renamed as the National Sponsorship Programme.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Dr Wee Ka Siong said the change in condition was never discussed in Cabinet.

“The only matter discussed was the switch to send our students to local universities instead of overseas.

“I have conveyed our message to the Chief Secretary to the Government and he has promised to get back to us,” said Dr Wee.

Deputy Education Minister Datuk Chong Sin Woon said this new condition would discourage students from taking optional subjects.

“We will object to this new ruling as this will affect our students who take important extra subjects like Chinese and Tamil,” he said.

Malaysian Chinese Language Council also objected to the change, calling the announcement “disappointing”.

Its president Datuk Eddie Heng pointed out that based on this new condition, only 102 out of 434,535 SPM candidates last year who managed to score full A+ would be eligible for the bursary.

“Science stream students will have to take a minimum nine subjects for SPM. .

“Such a change only discourages students from taking optional subjects, which is detrimental to our country’s long term plans to produce talented students,” he said in a statement.

Heng said he understood that Malaysia was facing a period of economic uncertainty, but urged the Government to reconsider supporting students who scored 9A+ and above.

The Government continues to sponsor the overseas education for the best from the SPM pool of top scorers.

The top 20 SPM scorers will further their studies at renowned universities worldwide under the National Scholarship Programme.