Sunday, March 22, 2009

JPA News Release on JPA Scholarships for SPM 2008

This news is quoted from NST .

Some of the observations I made from this article:-
1. Those with SPM 9A1s are not automatically getting JPA scholarships
2. Those who get into Top universities would get chance to get JPA scholarships (pending applications)
3. Previously, you need to have 9A1s and above, as well as offer from top unis, but this year, you don't need the 9A1s requirement.
4. For JPA scholarships, academic now counts for 75% (instead of 70%), interview 5% (instead of 10%), family economic background 10% and co-curricular activities 10%.

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PUTRAJAYA: There will be no automatic scholarships for those who score nine 1As and above in the Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia examination this year.

Public Service Department (PSD) director-general Tan Sri Ismail Adam said the scholarships were only a benefit for last year.

Last year, students who got nine 1As in the 2007 SPM examination were automatically eligible for scholarships from PSD for Form Six until the first degree locally.

"Last year, if they had nine 1As and they got into Form Six, we offered them scholarships. If they did well and entered local universities, the scholarships continued.

"This year, there has been no announcement. There is no decision yet," Ismail told the New Sunday Times.

What remains this year, he said, were the 2,000 overseas and 10,000 local scholarships.
"Within the overseas allocation, we also reserve scholarships for those who get into elite schools. It can be Ivy League schools, the top school in England or the Group of Eight universities in Australia.

"For that kind of scholarship, you have to get a place there. So it doesn't matter even if you study on your own. Once you get a place in Harvard, we offer you a scholarship.

"But it must be in the field that the government wants. If you take classical dancing, then of course there will be no scholarship."

Last year, said Ismail, 87 students received this type of scholarship and this year, it will be offered as part of the 2,000 overseas scholarships.

Aside from these, there are also scholarships for foreign universities that have a local campus -- Nottingham, Monash, Curtin and Swinburne -- as well as the Asian Institute of Medicine, Science and Technology University.

If a student gets nine 1As in the 2007 SPM examination, enters A-Levels and then gets a place in Monash University, would he still be eligible?

"Yes, he can still be considered. He can apply, but it is not automatically given. He becomes like any other applicant."

Ismail said there would be no reduction in the number of scholarships offered by PSD as a result of the current economic conditions.

"So far, the government has said it will maintain the number of overseas scholarships at 2,000 places and local scholarships at 10,000 places.

"This year, we have 1,676 students with straight 1As and 6,277 who obtained all As. There are only 2,000 overseas scholarships.

"The problem now is that all the bright students want to do medicine in England. That is not possible.

"It is not that they don't qualify. It is because medical schools overseas now have an international quota and we have to compete with the rest of the world as they are very selective."

Ismail said the department was also working with the Higher Education Ministry this year to retain some of the top students for local research universities as part of efforts to improve the universities' rankings.

"We will probably give them extras to retain them, and they may possibly be able to spend one semester or so overseas. I will have to work this out with the universities and the ministry."
The selection criteria for overseas scholarships has also been changed.

"Last year, it was 70, 10, 10, 10. This year, it is 75 points for academic excellence, 10 points for curriculum, 10 points for family economic background and five points for the interview.
He said there was the interview process for overseas scholarships, but not for the local ones, which require 80 points for academic excellence and 20 for economic background.

"We still have the interview process for overseas scholarships because we are sending these students away for five or six years. We want to see if they are prepared mentally. We've had cases where students started feeling lonely in their second year.

"This is a big investment. When you go to medical school, we have to spend over a million ringgit. That is why the interview is important and it is the tipping point."

For this year, the government has allocated more than RM832 million for overseas scholarships and more than RM413 million for local scholarships.

"Students wanting scholarships must keep in mind that the competition is getting tougher, because there are a lot more brilliant students than there are scholarships the government can offer."

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16 comments:

Live Station said...

Whether or not the competition is big, to me, that's not the main issue.

PSD has always been telling people how many straight A's students they have and how "poor" you must be or how "active" you were in highschool in order to get PSD scholarships.

In fact, the Quota still rules.

They need to realise that they spend ALOT on MARA scholarships, which is obviously not open to every Malaysian.

I hope government will really practise what they promised non bumi last year, which is 45% PSD scholarships for non bumi.


cheers

Chen Chow said...

The quota does not exist. There is no quota system, and for the past few years, the number of non-bumiputera has been increasing. Just go to any of the preparatory program and you'll realize that.

On MARA Scholarships, it is offered by another statutory board, and it is the only scholarship that is limited to bumiputera.

yvonne* said...

Hi chen chow.

first of all,your blog and your posts at the jobstreet forum are such a huge help to all the students out there.thank you so much!it's very much appreciated.

i have a question which i hope you have the answer to,regarding the JPA scholarships for students who have done their pre-u studies on their own and have succeeded in getting an offer from a top university.any idea when will the scholarship be available and how do i apply for it?thank you very much!

cheers.

Chen Chow said...

Hi Yvonne,

It is my pleasure. Hope that you can share what you know to others too!

On the JPA Scholarships for those who have gotten offer from top university, I would suggest that you check with JPA directly on that. Last year, the deadline was 14th June.

I assume that you have gotten offer from a top university. Congratulations! Which one?

All the best!

Unknown said...

dear chen chow,
i got straight as n if i got matriculation soon since i want to study local,
can i apply 4 da jpa scholarship locally??

Anonymous said...

i just went for the interview with the Jpa for the course that I'm applying for which is the Social Science.What I'd like to know is that,are there any quotas being set for each course .

Melissa said...

Chen Chow,

I inquired a JPA officer regarding the IVY League scholarship. According to him, they are still unsure whether they are offering it for this year. He said that the July application is only for UK while Feb application is for Aus & USA.

His statement contradict with this newspaper article. Do you have any latest update? Thank you

Chen Chow said...

Ainin, you can check and see whether there are scholarships for matriculation. For JPA local scholarships, I believe it is after you got in local unis.

For each course, they do have a set number of scholarships that they are offering, although i am not sure the breakdown. You can search for an article in my blog, which i showed last year's breakdown.

Melissa, you might want to check with JPA from time to time. You can quote this NST news to them, and ask them on it. Good Luck!

Anonymous said...

a million of thanks=)

-ainin-

yvonne* said...

Thanks for your info. =)
sorry for my very much delayed reply.

oh and thanks again,I got into Cambridge for Law.Hopefully all goes well with scholarships.fingers crossed. =)

Anonymous said...

hello chen chow,
i have a Question !

i applied for PILN medicine under jpa recently. As the high competition in this programme, i was not given overseas medicine but will be sponsered to do my foundation in a local IPTS(swasta).

i need to know which place or where will i be places. any possibilities pls ?

is it possible for me to go overseas maybe after my foundation ?

-tq .pls reply asap

Chen Chow said...

Yvonne, congrats!

On which IPTS, they will inform you in the letter. Do go to http://www.recom.org for the discussion.

On whether you can go overseas, chances are low, but no harm apply too.

Good Luck! At least you get the chance to be a doctor! :)

Anonymous said...

hi,

thanks for posting all the information

i am a student who is doing my pre-u programme currently

i got the jpa acholarship for foreign countries

i would like to know that is it compulsory for me to quit the pre-u that i am now doig and take the pre-u offered by the government?

pls reply me as soon as possible
your reply is much appreciated

Chen Chow said...

Congrats for getting JPA Overseas scholarships! Would strongly advise you to take up the pre-u offered by JPA, as it would provide you with the necessary preparation to go abroad. Don't think too much on cutting corners.

On whether it is compulsory, I would say that you can ask for permission to be exempted. It is case by case approval. So, up to them, and you do face the risk of losing the scholarship, if you can't get admitted.

Anonymous said...

Thanks a lot
i have decided to quit my current programme to join the prepatory programme from the government
what u have said is absolutely true
thanks for ur advise
^^

Chen Chow said...

Good Luck! Make full use of the opportunities!