Tuesday June 17, 2008

Second shock for students, application for scholarship rejected again

BY A. LETCHUMANAN

TWO classmates, both having scored 10As in last year's Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia, are dejected after their applications for JPA scholarships were turned down for the second time.

The two, Venushia Chandran and Preshaantini Ponnaiah, were among the best students from SMK Puteri in Seremban but were shocked to find out their application was rejected recently.

Their parents had sought the assistance of Putera MIC coordinator P. Kamalanathan after learning of the rejection.

M. Shanthi said that the family had high hopes that Venushia would be successful following the appeal.

Excellent results: Shanthi (right) showing her daughter Venushia’s results to Kamalanathan. On the left is Preshaantini‘s parents Sasikala Devi and R. Ponnaiah.

“My daughter has been consistently scoring excellent results in the UPSR, PMR and SPM and has been active in the co-curricular activities,” she said.

Shanthi, who is a teacher in a secondary school in Seremban and her husband who is also working in the government service, have two other schooling children and an aged mother to take care of.

“We have served the government for more than 20 years. We have been let down,” she said, adding that her husband who is a heart patient has two more years before retirement.

Preshaantini’s father, R. Ponnaiah, 46, also expressed his dissatisfaction after the Public Services Department (PSD) rejected his daughter’s application.

“There are other students who come to school in luxurious cars and had been offered the scholarships,” he said.

He said that they had already submitted an appeal to PSD and had submitted copies to MIC president Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu and Human Resources Minister Datuk Dr S. Subramaniam.

Kamalanathan said it was shocking that the two girls who had straight As and were active in co-curricular activities were not given the scholarship.

“I don’t know what more they want to be eligible for a JPA scholarship.

“They have the good results and had struggled for five years in their studies and after a one hour interview, they are denied the scholarship,” he said.

Kamalanathan said the PSD was killing the future education of the Indian students in the country by denying them the scholarships.

He said PSD should publish the names of the recipients of the JPA scholarships including their results, their schools as well as the courses offered so that it is transparent.

“If all the recipients have better results that these two girls, then we will accept it and ask them to do better next time,” he said.