JPA rejects 10A1 student

A student who scored 10A1s in the SPM exam was rejected for a JPA scholarship. To add insult to injury, she was also rejected for the matriculation program.

It is not unprecedented for a student with 10A1s to get rejected by JPA. I have a friend who obtained 11A1s and one A2 and was was rejected by the JPA as well. We are not sure if Kamine Devi was a straight A1 student or whether she had some A2s and B3s along with her 10A1s.

Neither is the option of studying medicine out of her reach, yet. She still can do her STPM and get into medicine via that route (although this too is challenging since she needs to score straight As in her STPM).

But what I am peeved by is the fact that she was rejected for the matriculation program. I won't go into the weaknesses of that program - which many have criticized as a back door creation for weaker Bumiputera students to get into our public universities - except to say that only 10% of the places in these programs are given to non-Bumis. I can understand, somewhat, if she was rejected by JPA because she didn't get straight A1s or that there might have been other students who had more straight A1s. But what I cannot understand is the fact that she got rejected by the matriculation program as well!

It's not as if top SPM scorers are making a beeline for the matriculation program or that non Bumis are inundating the matriculation program with their applications. What is the basis for her rejection from this program? That she scored TOO MANY A1s?

The matriculation program has come under some level of criticism. You can read letters in Malaysiakini to get a flavor of what these criticisms are - here, here and here.

I wish Kamine Devi all the best in her dream to become a doctor. I hope that these rejections will not demoralize her.