Sounds familiar doesn't it? If I'm not mistaken the original singer of this song (Honesty) was Billy Joel. Anyway you can correct me if you like. I however would like to equate these two words - Honesty & Meritocracy. On the subject of scholarships one can get into a long drawn discussion and argument as well. However in my personal point of view if the Education Ministry just reverts to merits and not race and creed, only then we will see fair distribution of scholarships. Apart from just merits and results a further in depth study of affordability must also be a main criteria. Let us now look at the meaning of the word. Wikipedia terms scholarships as an award of financial aid for a student to further education. Scholarships are awarded on various criteria usually reflecting the values and purposes of the donor or founder of the award. Criterias include:
Merit-based: These awards are based on a student's athletic, academic, artistic or other abilities, and often factor in an applicant's community service record and extracurricular activities. The most common merit-based scholarships, awarded by either private organizations or directly by a student's intended college, recognize academic achievement or high scores on the ACT and SAT standardized tests.[1]
Need-based: These awards are based on the student and family's financial record and will require applicants to fill out a FAFSA to qualify if the scholarship is a federal award. Private need-based scholarships will also often require the results of a FAFSA, which calculates a student's financial need through a formula looking at the expected family contribution and cost of attendance at the intended college.[2]
Student-specific: These are scholarships where applicants must initially qualify by race, gender, religion, family and medical history, or many other student-specific factors. Minority scholarships are the most common awards in this category, and not all are based in the United States. For example, students in Canada may qualify for a number of aboriginal scholarships, whether they study at home or abroad.[3]
Career-specific: These are scholarships awarded by a college or university to students planning to pursue a specific field of study. Often the most generous awards are given to students pursuing careers in high-need areas such as education or nursing. Nursing students are in high demand, and many schools will give future nurses full scholarships to enter the field, especially if the student intends to work in a high-need community
Now that we are clear on the meaning of the word can we now or should I say can the Education Ministry and in particular the Education Minister begin to understand that scholarships are not just based on quotas. In Malaysia's case more often than not it is based on race and quotas. This of course is just my point of view. Can the Ministry of Education really openly and honestly say that the selection process of awarding scholarships are based on the criteria stated above?? Sadly I think not, more so with people like Ibrahim Ali and his fellow followers of Perkasa around. Do these people even know the meaning of the word scholarship?? Furthermore I know of many young Malay Malaysians who have been successful in life without any helping hand from the Federal Government or agencies. I am so very sure they will feel insulted with comments made by Ibrahim Ali.
Enough on politics and cheap publicity, let us focus on the subject being discussed, what is the criteria being used by the Federal Government in the award of Scholarships?? Is there a guideline? If there is why is this guideline not made public? Let us be fair for all Malaysians living under the Malaysian Sun. If our children merit an award of a scholarship they should not be denied be they Malay, Chinese, Indian or any other race. Why are they, the children made victims of whims and fancies of politicians?? Or why are they being used for the sake of getting the politicians their '15 minutes of fame'!! Scream and Shout all you like, what matters most is the education of our future generations. Sadly however this is not the case, the fact of the matter is sadly parliamentarians on both sides of the house are more interested in getting sensational headlines rather than tackling the problem at hand.
Have a basis or guideline for the award of scholarships that is what all Malaysians want. These guidelines or criteria must be publicised if not gazetted for all students and parents. Until this is done whats the point of accusing each other of sedition or going against the Federal Constitution.
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