Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong is taken to task for alleging that there was abuse of power in the award of government scholarships.
KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister Department Nazri Aziz defended today the Public Service Department (PSD), claiming that allegations of power abuse in the award of scholarships were unfounded.
Taking a swipe at Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong for his public outburst on the sensitive subject, Nazri said that Wee was using the issue to gain political mileage instead of solving it.
“Are we interested in solving these students’ problems or your political condition? Maybe he’s saying this because he wants to defend his post as MCA Youth chief,” Nazri said at a press conference here.
Wee claimed last week that 363 straight A+ students failed to get PSD scholarships this year despite the vow made by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak that all students scoring 8A+ and above will receive the PSD scholarships.
The promise was made following a similar allegation of unfair scholarship distribution last year.
Wee also claimed that there are “little Napoleans” in the PSD who were directly acting against the Cabinet directive.
Nazri claimed the policy promised by Najib is in place and that the PSD scholarship award system, which he said is just and fair, now recognises application from those with 8A+ grades.
The PSD scholarships fall under two primary categories: the overseas degree programme (PILN) for 1,500 selected students and the local degree programme (PIDN) for 2,500 applicants.
Applicants for both PILN and PIDN can apply under four sub-categories, with each having different requirements for scholarships approval.
‘Give proof to back allegations’
Nazri said that from the 4,000 PILN and PIDN scholarships awarded to the 2010 batch of SPM top scorers, 2,183 spots (55%) were given to Bumiputera students while 1,817 (45%) were offered to the non-Bumiputeras.
Only 8,857 from the 16,900 students who applied for PILN scholarships met the PSD requirements, with 7,277 (43.1%) of them being Bumiputeras and 9,623 (56.9%) non-Bumiputeras.
However, Nazri said that only 1,500 PILN scholarships were offered and 300 were given purely on merit. Unsuccessful applicants, however, have the PIDN option which offers 2,500 spots.
Should they fail both, the students will still be eligible to apply for the 8,000 spots for scholarships at metriculation or diploma levels.
Nazri defended the existing scholarship award system and dismissed Wee’s accusation that there were systematic efforts by the PSD to deny non-Bumiputeras opportunities to obtain government assistance.
He asked Wee to provide proof to back his claims, saying that his allegations were causing hurt to PSD officers whose integrity he would vouch for.
“These interviewers are multiracial and respected academicians. We have to be fair to the officers. When you are a politician and you attack civil servants, they cannot defend themselves. I am doing this on behalf of all the excellent officers that we have,” he said.
Nazri added that Wee should have used “the right channel” like the Cabinet meeting tomorrow to voice his grouses instead of using the media.
KUALA LUMPUR: Minister in the Prime Minister Department Nazri Aziz defended today the Public Service Department (PSD), claiming that allegations of power abuse in the award of scholarships were unfounded.Taking a swipe at Deputy Education Minister Wee Ka Siong for his public outburst on the sensitive subject, Nazri said that Wee was using the issue to gain political mileage instead of solving it.
“Are we interested in solving these students’ problems or your political condition? Maybe he’s saying this because he wants to defend his post as MCA Youth chief,” Nazri said at a press conference here.
Wee claimed last week that 363 straight A+ students failed to get PSD scholarships this year despite the vow made by Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak that all students scoring 8A+ and above will receive the PSD scholarships.
The promise was made following a similar allegation of unfair scholarship distribution last year.
Wee also claimed that there are “little Napoleans” in the PSD who were directly acting against the Cabinet directive.
Nazri claimed the policy promised by Najib is in place and that the PSD scholarship award system, which he said is just and fair, now recognises application from those with 8A+ grades.
The PSD scholarships fall under two primary categories: the overseas degree programme (PILN) for 1,500 selected students and the local degree programme (PIDN) for 2,500 applicants.
Applicants for both PILN and PIDN can apply under four sub-categories, with each having different requirements for scholarships approval.
‘Give proof to back allegations’
Nazri said that from the 4,000 PILN and PIDN scholarships awarded to the 2010 batch of SPM top scorers, 2,183 spots (55%) were given to Bumiputera students while 1,817 (45%) were offered to the non-Bumiputeras.
Only 8,857 from the 16,900 students who applied for PILN scholarships met the PSD requirements, with 7,277 (43.1%) of them being Bumiputeras and 9,623 (56.9%) non-Bumiputeras.
However, Nazri said that only 1,500 PILN scholarships were offered and 300 were given purely on merit. Unsuccessful applicants, however, have the PIDN option which offers 2,500 spots.
Should they fail both, the students will still be eligible to apply for the 8,000 spots for scholarships at metriculation or diploma levels.
Nazri defended the existing scholarship award system and dismissed Wee’s accusation that there were systematic efforts by the PSD to deny non-Bumiputeras opportunities to obtain government assistance.
He asked Wee to provide proof to back his claims, saying that his allegations were causing hurt to PSD officers whose integrity he would vouch for.
“These interviewers are multiracial and respected academicians. We have to be fair to the officers. When you are a politician and you attack civil servants, they cannot defend themselves. I am doing this on behalf of all the excellent officers that we have,” he said.
Nazri added that Wee should have used “the right channel” like the Cabinet meeting tomorrow to voice his grouses instead of using the media.
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