She said there was no basis to the belief that the programme was elitist.

“Actually, if you look at the early childhood education programme, you will see that our focus is on areas with low income and rural families. That is inclusive, not elitist,” she said.

Dr Sharifah Hapsah said this last night, when she appeared as a guest on Bernama television’s Ruang Bicara together with Permata working committee chairman Siti Azizah Sheikh Abod.

Dr Sharifah Hapsah said: “Look at the Permata Pintar programme, for instance; when we do online tests and analyse the students, we found among those that did well are from places that we don’t even know existed.”

The Permata programme is the brainchild of the Prime Minister’s wife Rosmah Mansor, who is also its patron. It has seven branches: Permata Negara, Permata Pintar, Permata Insan, Permata Seni, Permata Kurnia, Perkasa Remaja and Hospital Kanak-kanak Permata, including Kolej Permata Pintar and Kolej Permata Insan.

Dr Sharifah Hapsah said Permata’s focus was also on marginalised teenagers who lacked the opportunity to realise their full potential.

The programme could hopefully steer the target group from aimless activities such as loitering and illegal street motorcycle racing, she said.

She accused Permata critics of being ill-informed when they claimed the programme catered “only for upper level people”.

Many students groomed through Permata Pintar had succeeded in furthering their education at university level in and out of the country, she said. Some had excelled by gaining admittance to prestigious institutions such as Oxford, Cambridge and Stanford university.