Education Assistance in Selangor: Can Pakatan Rakyat offer change?
Gobind Singh Deo
There is much to be said about scholarships and government loans in Selangor.
Yayasan Selangor has come under fire over the lack of scholarships awarded to Indian and Chinese students. It has been said that this is primarily due to a lack of awareness and participation on part of Indian and Chinese students over the availability of such scholarships.
With respect, whether or not such is true, we cannot run from the fact that the numbers reflect a very small number of scholarships to Chinese and Indian students. This is simply unacceptable.
This, again, is only in respect of Yayasan Selangor. I am sure there are also other scholarships available within the state. What are they? What is the distribution of these scholarships or loans to the multiracial public?
The Menteri Besar of Selangor should reveal details of all loans and scholarships available to students in Selangor. He should also disclose the breakdown of how and to whom these scholarships were awarded in the past.
The Selangor government must remember that it is a government of and for all races.
There are poor students in Selangor from all races in great need of funds for education. What is needed is an aggressive advertising campaign in Selangor with a view towards building awareness amongst all races. It is our duty to tell them there are opportunities for them in respect of loans or scholarships in Selangor and that Selangor will not let them down when it comes to matters such as education.
YB Teresa Kok made known the facts and figures as she herself felt the number of Indian and Chinese students participating were somewhat low. The purpose of her exposing it was simply to invite greater awareness and participation.
Nevertheless, the PR government in Selangor must recognize that the rakyat of today are more observant and independent in their views. Therefore, when issues like these arise, one would expect that the government reacts quickly to find out the root cause of the problem and ways to solve it.
Why has there been such a lack of information to the public about the availability of such education loans and scholarships? Who is responsible for it and what is the government going to do about it?
