Students hope Cabinet will grant their wishes

PETALING JAYA: Their deadline is looming closer and the 63 students who are asking for scholarships from the Public Services Department (PSD) to study overseas are losing hope.

According to A-Levels student Edmund Kong, who started the petition to the government to review its policies on overseas scholarships, PSD was waiting to present a paper containing its recommendations to the Cabinet.

“There was a Cabinet meeting yesterday which was our last reasonable window,” he told The Star.

He said the group has not received any updates from PSD since last week, adding that PSD had promised to get back to them as soon as it got an answer from the government.

They submitted their petition three months ago and were told by PSD that it would be presented to the Cabinet.

Kong said the students had been given offer letters from 50 top universities.

So far, 10 of the students had to reject their offers and enrol in local varsities instead. Most of them saw their offers expiring at the end of last month while the rest are expiring this month.

Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik said last week that the affected students had contacted him regarding their predicament.

He said PSD has informed his ministry that it would be presenting a paper on the matter to the Cabinet.

A source from the Education Ministry said the issue was under the PSD. When contacted, PSD declined to comment.

According to the students’ petition, Pakatan Harapan MPs had slammed the Barisan Nasional government when they “downgraded” overseas scholarships in an attempt to reduce expenditure.

In 2016, opportunities for over- seas scholarships were substantially cut due to a recalibration in the previous government’s budget at that time.

The PSD currently offers overseas undergraduate scholarships for only the top 20 SPM students and engineering scholarships to Japan, South Korea, Germany and France to another 200 students.

Sponsoring these 63 students would cost RM12.7mil a year, including tuition fees, accommodation and miscellaneous costs.