All smiles: Idris (left) and his deputy Datuk Mary Yap (fourth from left) posing for a picture with the recipients of the MyBrain15 scholarship at the Higher Education Ministry in Putrajaya.
PUTRAJAYA: Students under the MyBrain15 programme are being offered 20,000 scholarships this year, the Higher Education Ministry said.
Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said from this figure, 15,000 scholarships were targeted for students under the MyMaster programme and 5,000 for those under the MyPhD programme.
“This is the biggest offer by the ministry so far,” he said.
He was speaking to reporters before presenting MyBrain15 scholarship offer letters to recipients during a ceremony here yesterday.
At the same event, Idris also announced the MyBrain15 scholarship offers for 9,010 students who applied between August and November last year.
From this figure, 7,410 are recipients under the MyMaster programme and 1,600 recipients are under the MyPhD programme.
This is the last batch out of the 12,000 recipients to receive the scholarship for last year.
Idris said that the ministry had received an overwhelming number of applications last year, but did not have sufficient funds for everyone.
Idris said that despite the challenging economic times, the RM300mil allocation to the ministry during the revised Budget last month allowed it to finance the 9,010 students as well as the 20,000 students this year.
Asked about the MyBrain15 scholarship applicants who have yet to receive a response to their applications, with some having waited for seven months so far, a ministry official urged them to call the ministry’s hotline at 03 8888 1616 or e-mail bb.mb15@mohe.gov.my.
The Star reported yesterday that the applicants have taken to the “MyBrain15 KPT” Facebook page to vent their frustration over the lack of response.
The official said that this could be due to incomplete forms or applicants not meeting the necessary criteria.
He said that those who qualified for the MyBrain15 scholarship received it yesterday.
The applications, he added, were received between August and November last year.
“No applications in December 2015 and January 2016 as these (applications) were closed by then,” the official said.
The MyBrain15 programme, which is under the Higher Education Ministry, was introduced in 2008 with the aim of producing 60,000 PhD holders by 2023.
As of December last year, 44,124 students have received offers under MyBrain15, with 35,919 under the MyMaster programme and 8,205 under the MyPhD and MyPhD Industri programme.
