Cut in JPA scholarship a form of ‘institutional racism’

Overseas Malaysian student movement appeals to government to help affected students find an alternative so they can further their studies.

PETALING JAYA: An overseas Malaysian student movement has condemned the government’s decision to reduce the number of Public Service Department (JPA) scholarships for overseas studies as a form of “institutional racism.”

In a statement issued today, the Malaysian Progressives in Australia (MPOZ) said abandoning the 744 students directly affected by this move was unacceptable and that the government must find an alternative solution so they could continue their studies.

“The reality of the matter is that JPA bursaries are the main government scheme to help non-bumiputera students to further their studies,” they said, arguing that these students had a harder time compared to others in obtaining government scholarships.

They said that with the cut in scholarships, these students now faced constraints in an educational landscape that observed either quorums or having to pay exorbitant fees for private universities, since some local universities strictly did not permit the enrolment of non-bumiputera students.

“Hence, this JPA issue must not be treated as an isolated case, but a source for ethnic dissatisfaction and a symptom to the condition that is institutional racism.”

MPOZ also was of the opinion that if the quality of education at local universities had improved, then cutting the number of scholarships for overseas studies could be justified.

However they argued that this was not the case in the country as even federal government spending for higher education had been cut from RM15.785 million in Budget 2015 to RM13.378 million in Budget 2016.

“We think that the government is absolutely unwise to reduce the budget at the expense of our students,” they said, arguing that the “operational budget” constituting 80 per cent of the budget should have been downsized instead.

MPOZ also said the manner in which the matter was handled by the government left much to be desired as students did not get prior warning of the cuts that has now left many in the lurch.

“These students had applied to overseas universities as early as last year and had received confirmation, and as of now do not have the alternative solutions to begin their academic year.

“The government body ought to have practiced a soft landing procedure to ensure that all students could adapt themselves to this change.”

Besides urging the government to fix the problem by offering affected students an alternative solution to the predicament they now faced, MPOZ also called on every Malaysian to support their statement as a “sign of solidarity.”