Saturday, June 07, 2008

Further thoughts on the JPA policy

Further thoughts on the JPA scholarship published in Mkini here and here. If you don't yet have an Mkini subscription, go subscribe!

5 comments:

Unknown said...

Hi Tony,

I've looked through your blog for posts regarding students who have done their O-Levels overseas who have trouble receiving any kind of financial support from the government for tertiary education, such as loans or scholarships. As I studied overseas my whole life (except for A-Levels in a private college in KL), I have an IGCSE qualification instead of an SPM qualification, and I have not been eligible for any kind of aid from the government (not even PTPTN), particularly because I have not done BM in SPM. I was just wondering if I may have missed one of your posts, or maybe you could enlighten us on this issue.

Regards,
Barkath

Anonymous said...

to barkath umar,
since u have money to study at overseas and did a-level at private college, i dont think u need PTPTN. please let the poor ppl get PTPTN.

can kian ming copy and paste the 2 articles to this website? to subscribe need money

Anonymous said...

I second that, anonymous (post#2). Or just summarise the articles, if there are copyright issues!!!

Kian Ming said...

Barkath,

Without any PMR or SPM or STPM qualifications, it's hard for you to apply for any government scholarship. The best bet would be to apply to GLCs such as Petronas or Tenaga or Telekom or Bank Negara. It's open competition so I won't make a value judgment as to whether someone whose family seems to have the financial means for you to continue your studies abroad to actually apply for these scholarships. I know many of my friends who are from rich families who have gotten these scholarships. Good luck.

Unknown said...

first of all, thank you kian ming. and to anonymous, the fact that i studied overseas does not mean i am "rich" and that is the assumption that many people make. i dont have to prove this to you and oher ignorant people. due to the fact that i did do my o-levels overseas, i was not able to enrol at any public college, and therefore had to do my a-levels in a private college.
I am an australian PR and i can take advantage of the lower domestic fees instead of international student fees, (and pay lower fees than private unis in malaysia - the only ones i can get in to) however it is still difficult for my parents to make ends meet for me, and so they have to take loans for me.
Here in australia, every australian student can get low interest loans to study and repay them later instead of having to depend on parents who cant afford to pay for education. i was wondering if this was the case in malaysia as well.
thanks again kian ming for your useful advice.