54 of 63 applicants offered PSD scholarship

PUTRAJAYA: Of the 63 students who applied for scholarships from the Public Service Department (PSD), 54 were approved on Wednesday.

PSD director-general Datuk Borhan Dolah said of that, 13 students were offered scholarships for overseas studies while 41 for local institutions.

He said the 13 students will get 80 per cent sponsorship while the 41 pursuing their studies locally will get full sponsorship.

“The decision was made after we tabled the full report on the petitions by the 63 students to the Cabinet on Wednesday.

“This has actually been PSD's practice in previous years before 2016 when the government decided that scholarships would only be given for local studies,” he said when commenting on the decision on the students' applications after the issue was brought to the Cabinet.

Speaking to reporters after the MyBest Buy FAMA @ JPA4U programme at Dataran Kompleks C here yesterday, Borhan said information on the decision would be uploaded on the department's website yesterday.

He said for overseas sponsorships, the PSD would only consider studies in universities which are among the top 10 world best university ranked by QS World University Rankings, which includes Harvard University and Oxford University.

In a separate development, Borhan said 300 officers of the Special Affairs Department (JASA) who are permanent staff or civil servants will be absorbed into the relevant ministries and departments after JASA is dissolved.

He said for the other posts, PSD had to wait for the Cabinet's approval before taking any action on the appointees.

A portal yesterday quoted a statement by JASA Panel Thinker Tun Faisal Ismail Aziz as saying the government would dissolve JASA on Oct 15, resulting in 800 of its staff losing their jobs.