MRSM 2017 intake sees priority given to children of B40 families, urban poor

The student intake at the Mara Junior Science College (MRSM) next year will see the priority given to children from families in the bottom 40 per cent household income group (B40) in rural areas, according to Rural and Regional Development Minister Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob.

He said for children in the urban areas, the priority would be given to those in the urban poor category.

"This is in line with the original objective of MRSM, that is to provide comfortable learning environment to underprivileged students, especially those from rural areas," he said at the ministry's monthly assembly here today.

Commenting further at a press conference later, Ismail Sabri said he had also been deluged with requests from high-income parents whose children excelled in their Ujian Pencapaian Sekolah Rendah (UPSR) examinations and were willing to pay to have their children pursuing their studies at MRSM.

"As such, I have proposed for to Mara to consider setting up a paid MRSM. This MRSM will be set up in Klang Valley and will probably impose certain fee which is lower than that of private or international schools because Mara is not a business entity.

"However, the fee will depend on the operation cost of the college. It is too early to talk about the fee now," he said.

The minimum requirement to enrol into Form One at MRSM had recently be loosened with priority given to excellent students from rural and urban poor families, as well as from native groups in Sabah and Sarawak.

Under the new requirement, candidates from Peninsular Malaysia needed a minimum result of 3A 3B, while candidates from Sabah and Sarawak must have at least 3A 2B and 1C.

The change was due to the results of this year's UPSR examinations which saw a significant drop in the number of students scoring straight As. --BERNAMA