Reduce JPA Scholarship for Overseas Studies

In light of the recent debate on reducing the number of scholars we send overseas, I have decided to re-post my FB note dated 29th November 2009. Yes, I can see the future:P
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Enough of posturing, campaigning and politicking. Let’s try giving solutions. From traffic to education, I want to start putting my ideas onto paper, figuratively speaking.

Since I studied locally, and because local graduates get a lot of stick, and since we won’t ever be expensively-paid consultants that can later be put as a director of one of the most profitable O&G companies in the world, I’ll deal with local graduates first.

The issue? Quality. Apparently, we are not smart enough, competent enough, and literate enough to even be considered as graduates/degree holders. Fine. Let’s assume for a fact that this is true (although, if I may be politically correct, this is BS). What’s the solution?

Certainly not in building more schools. Certainly not in giving more computers. Certainly not in giving them more money. It’s all about people.

I believe we are what we are because of the people we surround ourselves with. Successful people make it a point not to hang out with losers. Losers bring you down. Time and time again, from Napolean Hill to Zig Ziglar to Richard Branson, the power of positive association has been pointed out as a key to success.
So the theory is quite simple – get the right number of successful, determined and intelligent people in a group to influence a bigger set of people, and the rest will at least strive for a higher benchmark.

Unfortunately, we, and most education system tend to do it the opposite way. Even from High School we were segregated based on our marks. You’ll probably find that some classes are filled with gangsters while others are filled with geniuses.

How can losers ever be taught about the possibility of winning if they were not exposed to the CONCEPT of winning itself? How can anyone expect a D-student to turn into an A-student when he is exposed only to other failures? Do we expect miraculous transformation to come from within?

We know the answer. And therein, I believe, is the solution.

To immediately transform the quality of our local graduates, we must fill our local universities with the brightest minds in the country. A higher ratio of excellent students over average students would dramatically improve the quality of the education experience. Winners create winners, and the strong will create an environment to push the weak.

For this to happen there must be a paradigm shift in the way we approach higher education. We must dispel the myth that people will become stupid if they study locally, or smarter if they study overseas. We must be brave enough to send LESS students overseas. Universities will never evolve if we keep on filling them with the rejects like myself *sarcasm insert here*.

I know how some are afraid that the smart students, instead of influencing others, are influenced instead. That’s a valid concern, but I somehow have this strange belief that throughout their lives, high achievers have developed certain skill sets that allows their mind to only think of the possibilities out there and channel only positive thoughts – not vice-versa.

My own experience at UiTM has taught me that successful students do play a part in developing the people around them, either directly or indirectly. Unfortunately, there are too few of them around (at a ratio of 5% of the student population?) to effectively influence a larger set of people.

This is a radical approach to higher education. It’s just a crazy idea that I thought of quite a while back when I met MRSM students who were sent overseas only to come back not significantly better than the best of the local graduates.

This is not a chicken and egg situation. A radical approach must be undertaken to address the growing discontent with the quality of local graduates (whether it’s true or not is a debate for another post…). And radicalism lies not only in extreme actions, but in extreme thoughts.

Send more smart students to study locally. You cannot wait for the Universities to become “better” because it never will. Just take a deep breath, sign the papers Minister, and accept this idiotic idea. After all, your Oxbridge S.Officer ideas have not really changed things, right? (no offense to my Oxbridge mates)

p/s: Choice is but an illusion.