Given the large number of straight-A Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM) students this year, the Malaysian Government has already begun taking some evasive measures regarding the annual Public Services Department (PSD) or Jabatan Perkhidmatan Awam (JPA) scholarships.

After it was announced recently that 1,300 overseas JPA scholarships would be provided to successful students this year, JPA must have realised that this year could very well be a repeat of the past two years - where complaints were filed due to top students not being awarded JPA scholarships. Not surprising given the large number of top students, relative to the number of scholarships available at least.

So, this year, the Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib, has clearly stated that it is just not possible for the Government to offer overseas scholarships to all top students. But that has always been expected. Every year, there are students with strong results that never receive scholarships while those with less impressive academic results receiving them.

That’s why it’s probably more important to note the new judging system in place. This year, only a 65% emphasis is placed on academic results, with the remaining 35% focusing on interview performance, co-curricular results, and socio-economic background. In my opinion, this (more) holistic approach and higher degree of transparency are definitely improvements, but they are unlikely to deter complaints from arriving.

[News via The Star Online]