KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA: MCA wants the list of students as well as the criteria used to award Public Service Department (PSD) scholarships to be made public.

Party president Datuk Seri Ong Tee Keat said the party was only concerned about the criteria and transparency over the awarding of PSD scholarships, not the allocation to Chinese students or the racial quota.

"Based on complaints from more than 1,000 students received by us and vetted by our education bureau, we feel the crux of the problem is the criteria and transparency," Ong said after chairing a central committee meeting yesterday.

He cited the case of two Chinese students from the same class with the same level of co-curricular involvement but that scholarship was offered to the student with a comparatively poorer Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia result.

Education bureau secretary Chong Sin Woon said making the list of successful applicants and criteria public would dispel any notion that the scholarships were awarded unfairly.
"If everyone who gets a scholarship fulfills the criteria, nobody is going to make any noise."

Chong said some scholarships should be set aside for the less fortunate and those from Sabah and Sarawak.

He suggested that academic achievement make up 80 per cent of the criteria, with 10 per cent for extracurricular activities, and five per cent each for family background and an interview.

He said MCA had received 50 complaints from students nationwide that they were not offered Biology in the Science matriculation course although the subject was essential to do medicine later.

He said the PSD had offered Physics instead.

Biology is a must for those who want to take medicine, dentistry and pharmacy in all local universities with the exception of Universiti Sains Ma-laysia.

He advised those intending to pursue a career in medicine to consider other routes such as doing Form Six or A levels.

He said another problem encountered by students was the failure of the PSD to state the country where successful students would be sent to.