Having studied hard, burying their heads in books for years in the hope to one day obtain a scholarship that will help them reach their goals, these students told FMT that with the suspension, comes uncertainty as to what the future holds for them.
A public university student, currently completing her A-levels funded by the Education Ministry said that without a JPA scholarship, she might have to turn down the offer she received to study pharmacy in one of the world’s top universities, King’s College.
The student, who only wanted to be known as Hannah said that when she was offered the Education Ministry’s bursary, she and her peers were told that should they fulfil certain requirements, JPA scholarships would automatically be provided to them.
“But when student representatives went to see JPA personnel to obtain clarification on the status of those currently applying for the scholarship, they said it had been suspended for now.”
Hannah said that without the funding, she may have to look at applying to local universities instead.
“My parents can’t afford to pay 20,000 pounds a year. And there isn’t many scholarships available out there for the pharmacy course.”
Kausella Preeya Parusuraman, 21, told FMT that she enrolled into Perdana University Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland to study medicine, in hopes that her application for a JPA scholarship would come through.
However, with the suspension, she was told that this was no longer a possibility.
“My parents convinced me to accept the offer (to study in the university) for the sole reason that I could apply for the JPA scholarship this year. But it has gone down the drain now.
“I’m currently in my second semester. It was really difficult for my parents to make ends meet. I applied for the PTPTN loan. We used my mum’s EPF money and a few other savings (to fund the fees for the first two semesters).
“No matter how bad the economy is, the government should not make any decision that would jeopardise a person’s chance to get a good education. The world is competitive, one needs a good education to survive,” she said.
Another student who spoke on condition of anonymity said she received an offer to study pharmacy at Monash University in Australia a while back.
She has yet to reply to the offer due to the suspension of scholarships.
“My father sells Chinese medicine and my mother is a housewife. They can’t afford to pay for my fees and we were really hoping for the scholarship.
“It was promised to us when we were made recipients of the Education Ministry’s bursary.
“I don’t know if public universities accept A-levels certificates, so my parents are now telling me to just work instead of studying as they really can’t afford to send me to private institutions,” said the 20-year-old who obtained 2A stars and 2As for her A-levels.