Paid MRSM schools proposal still under study, says chairperson Asyraf

 

The proposal to establish paid Mara Science Junior College (MRSM) schools is still being studied, said Mara chairperson Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki.

He said the idea of establishing paid MRSM schools for the T20 income group is not new and was meant to meet the high expectations people had for the schools.

“The paid MRSM idea is not something new. It is already being studied by us as there is high demand and expectations from the people towards MRSM.

“This year alone there were 90,000 applications (to MRSM), but there were only 7,100 spots. So that shows we cannot just focus on B40, M40 and T20.

“Whatever it is, we will preserve Mara’s objectives. That is why we ensure that at least 60 percent of the seats are for the B40 and the rest are for M40 and T20,” Asyraf (above) told the press in a breaking fast function in Kuala Lumpur today.

Yesterday, Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi said that the proposal to establish paid MRSM schools for those who can afford it will not involve funding from the government.

Zahid, who is also the rural and regional development minister, said while the plan is being handled by Mara, it would instead use a private funding initiative and collaborate with financial institutions.

Elaborating further, Asyraf said the proposal to establish paid MRSM schools was based on “the realities of life”.

“We don’t want our children to be kept away from the realities of living in a society.

“And the reality is we don’t only live among the B40 or the M40 or T20 only,” he said.

Meanwhile, Asyraf also denied “mischievous” claims that MRSM was dominated by the elites.

Instead, he added, the data shows that MRSM is still sticking to its original goals of helping the Malays.

“It’s not true that MRSM is dominated by the elites and T20. I’m saying this based on the data available,” Asyraf stated. - Mkini