PSD scholarship is for first degree study

Not everybody will get to study overseas, says Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak.

KUALA LUMPUR: Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships which are given to students obtaining 8A+ are for first degree studies either at home or abroad, Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said.

Top scorers who were offered to undergo matriculation and diploma courses would be given scholarships when they further their studies at the first degree level, the prime minister said.

“We can’t promise that everybody will get to study overseas,” he told a news conference after chairing the Umno supreme council meeting at Menara Dato Onn, here today.

“This is what the people sometimes misunderstand… they think that when they take diploma or matriculation, they will no longer be given PSD scholarships.

“This is not true,” he said when asked to comment on claims of irregularities in the award of scholarships by the PSD.

There will be 4,000 scholarships to be given to those who obtained at least 9A. Of the total, 1,500 will be for study abroad and the rest for study in the country.

The prime minister said he had asked Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Nazri Aziz to discuss the issue with the PSD and other Barisan Nasional (BN) component parties.

Najib was also asked on the proposal by the Election Commission (EC) to ban mobile phones at vote tallying centres to prevent leakage of unofficial results.

Najib, who is Umno president, said: “I think it’s better for the EC to think this over; the EC is the election authority and it’s an independent body.”

EC chairman Abdul Aziz Mohd Yusof was reported to have said this week that the EC was considering banning the use of mobile phone in such centres or requiring owners to sign sworn declarations against any broadcast of unofficial election results.

Abdul Aziz said counting of votes might also be held much later even if there were polling centres being closed much earlier to prevent unofficial election results from being leaked out.
- Bernama