{"id":548,"date":"2016-02-29T15:44:58","date_gmt":"2016-02-29T07:44:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/theplantcloner.com\/?p=548"},"modified":"2016-02-29T15:44:58","modified_gmt":"2016-02-29T07:44:58","slug":"if-i-score-10-as-does-any-one-owe-me-a-scholarship","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/slc4u.org\/wp-new\/2016\/02\/29\/if-i-score-10-as-does-any-one-owe-me-a-scholarship\/","title":{"rendered":"If I score 10 ‘A’s does any one owe me a scholarship?"},"content":{"rendered":"

This article is rather long and in its original form was published in two parts in Han Chiang News. It was written in response to the recent news in Malaysia of government bursaries\/scholarships students who were promised full funding for overseas universities being told that the coffer does not have enough money and so the power that be had to renege on its promise. I have decided to republish the unedited version here in its entirety. <\/strong><\/p>\n

In recent weeks the press has highlighted the case of many public service department (JPA) scholars having their collective dreams of a fully paid for undergraduate studies overseas being dashed. The lack of fund was the main cause of the drastic decision by the JPA to reverse course for these students who did spectacularly well in their Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia (SPM – Malaysian Certificate of Education) in recent years. However all were given full financial support for pursuing their studies in local public and private universities.<\/span><\/p>\n

This case begs the question, \u201cDoes society owe a student who has scored straight \u201cA\u201ds in SPM an oversea scholarship?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While it is disappointing to see talented students who obtain top scores fail to continue their tertiary studies overseas, one must view this situation in a holistic manner. SPM is not an easy public examination for one to score straight \u201cA\u201ds. However those who scored straight \u201cA\u201ds in SPM are not necessary the same people who eventually shine well at university studies. There are many cases of SPM holders with more than 10\u201dA\u201ds who struggled and even tumbled at their undergraduate years. <\/span><\/p>\n

All of us who have been to college know that there is a big gap between SPM and STPM\/\u201dA\u201d levels or equivalent pre-university qualifications. The gap from pre-university to tertiary level is even bigger. Although in general those who did well at SPM would be able to cope with pre-university studies, there are many examples of students with very good SPM and pre-university results faltering at university studies. Thus for a country to commit so much resources to send its citizen to study overseas at this early stage is somewhat of a gamble. The safer bet is in fact what the JPA has done: let these students with great SPM results and pre-university qualifications study for their undergraduate degrees in local public or private universities. If these students turn out not to be what the Chinese described as \u201cXiao Shi Liao Liao, Da Wei Bi Jia \u201d (\u5c0f\u65f6\u4e86\u4e86, \uff0c\u5927\u672a\u5fc5\u4f73 \uff0d being bright at an early age does not necessarily bring success upon growing up), the country can then commit great resouces to send them overseas perhaps on a 2 + 2 model, saving great resources at the same time allowing the selectors to fine tune their selection. Many established private institutions of higher learning have attained great expertise, reputation and network of good overseas institutions to take on this responsibility. For those students who have proven \u201ctrack records\u201d the country can then commit greater resources to send them for their Master\u2019s or even PhD studies overseas. <\/span><\/p>\n

Judging someone\u2019s ability to learn well and flourish at university based solely on his\/her SPM results is not a very fair method. A student from a remote village in Sabah who did not have the means to attend private tuition classes for key subjects (like Malay, English, Mathematics, Physics, Accounts or Additional Mathematics)  may scores \u201conly\u201d 5 \u201cA+\u201ds compared to a student from Subang Jaya who attended private tuition classes for these subjects who scored 8 \u201cA+\u201ds. As an educationist, I will put my money on the Sabahan student being academically a better student compared to the student from Subang Jaya. Further, because the Sabahan student could thrive without the benefits of tuition classes, I will opine that the chances of this student faltering at university-level studies will be much lower than his\/her Subang Jaya counterpart. However by evaluating students based initially on just the number of \u201cA\u201ds scored the odd is stacked heavily against the Sabahan student. <\/span><\/p>\n

I studied for my G.C.E \u201cA\u201d levels at a state-run technical college in England in early 1980s. The college\u2019s \u201cA\u201d level students were mainly those who had taken the examination before but were repeating for one reason or another. Nearly all of them wanted just to pass. Because of clashing of timetable, in the first year of my \u201cA\u201d level studies I could only take the Applied Mathematics half of the \u201cPure and Applied  Mathematics\u201d as a part-time-revision-class which had 50% of the hours of the full-time class, covering only 60% of the syllabus. Yet, I was able to score a Grade A for this subject after studying only for 1 academic year. In my case, my \u201cstruggle\u201d was recognized by the university selectors and I received two offers to read dentistry in 1982. The lower offer was just any two subjects at grade E or better! Unfortunately, due to my family\u2019s lack of fund, I had to decline both offers despite meeting the minimal requirement easily with one further Grade \u201cA\u201d and two Grad \u201cB\u201ds. Compared to a boarding school student with dedicated school masters and a greater teaching system who scored 4 Grade \u201cA\u201ds at A Levels, I think my achievement under a much less favourable condition would be more reflective of my ability to learn and survive at university level and beyond. Who should you think is deserving of a scholarship to study at university?<\/span><\/p>\n

To those students who are expecting (or have scored) straight \u201cA\u201ds at SPM and are now at a crossroad as far as tertiary studies is concern, I urge you to take note of the following points:<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. No one owes you a scholarship just because you scored well. There are a lot of other influencing factors that the selectors of scholarship fund need to consider. You have no right to demand for a scholarship no matter how well you think you have done in your SPM. As a holder of 2 postgraduate scholarships, I can tell you that getting a scholarship is a privilege indeed and not a right!<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. Because of (1), you must show courtesy under all circumstances. The matured response reported of the recent JPA \u201cBursary\u201d students\u2019 case in appealing for help rather than \u201cexerting their rights\u201d is the correct approach. You will not get far if you adopt a confrontational approach and project the image of the world owing you something just because you have the talent to score \u201cA+\u201ds!<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Have a Plan B, C or even D. <\/span>\n