PSD announces new sponsorship model

The Public Services Department (PSD) has implemented a new sponsorship model this year to help more students further their studies, especially those from the lower income group.

At a briefing session on the new model here today, PSD said the sponsorship model is based on four core pillars - merit and inclusivity, focus on the B40, M40 and Technical and Vocational Training (TVET), development of the country as a hub for education and investment returns.

PSD said it will be implemented through six programs, National Sponsorship Program, Special Engineering Program to Japan, Korea, France and German, Degree Program in the Country, B40 Bursary Program, Graduate Bursary Program and Bursary Program.

Commenting on those who claim to be eligible for sponsorship but not selected, PSD explained there is a clear critirea for each sponsorship program.

The critirea is based on three categories which are population, Sabah and Sarawak and the less fortunate.

Personality test, 'Cambridge Personality Test' program is also a new program, which is a screening of the students' personality and thinking skills before they are beng interviewed for a scholarship.

Through this new model, PSD hopes that the number of sponsored students in the country would increase, inline with the aim to make Malaysia an education hub.

According to PSD, this year, the number of students who are sponsored locally is 41,324, and the number of students abroad is 7,736.

Meanwhile, the Bursary Program that was previously handled by the Ministry of Education (MOE) will be implemented by the PSD only for this year and will not be continued from 2017.

All of the sponsorship program in 2016 will be implemented in the form of Convertible Loan, except for B40 Dermasiswa Program.

Through B40's Dermasiswa program, PSD will work with the MOE and the E-Kasih to determine which students may be eligible for sponsorship.

It will also depend on the household income from every state in the country.

In March this year, Minister in the Prime Minister's Department, Datuk Seri Azalina Othman Said said the government has allocated RM1.65 bilion to sponsor 45,060 students for their higher education studies locally and abroad.