Malaysian students lack desire to excel in studies: Masidi
KOTA KINABALU:
The lack of desire to excel in studies seems to be the general common problem among Malaysian students. According to Tourism, Culture and Environment Minister Datuk Masidi Manjun, they are also quite satisfied with obtaining just average scores in their examinations, and more interested in finishing their studies quickly. “That is why they normally choose to pursue courses that are considered easy. Little do they know that the easier the course, the harder to find a job, while those who study harder courses tend to be absorbed faster,” said Masidi, who is also the State Education Executive Councillor. He stressed that the problem with the younger generation today is that they do not have the perseverance and drive for excellence. “So parents should motivate their children to go beyond their capabilities,” he said when representing Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman at the Shell Educational Excellence Awards here yesterday. Masidi noted the attitude of some parents who preferred their children to pursue studies at universities or higher learning institutions nearer to home. “We cannot be too protective of our children just because we love them. We need to teach them to live their own lives. “One of these days, we will be gone and our children will only have themselves. They need to learn to survive on theft own. They cannot stay dependent on us forever,” he stressed, Earlier, in reading Musa’s speech, Masidi said the event witnessed the two most important elements, namely education and human capital, which in the globalised world should move alongside each other to see greater impact on the nation’s economy. “ We must be wise to properly plan education with innovative and creative measures so that the human capital would be of greater quality and more competitive to meet the current demand,” said Musa. Some 40 academically outstanding students from Sabah and Labuan received scholarships from Shell Malaysia to pursue their pre-university and first-degree studies at local and overseas universities. An additional 200 bursaries worth RM750 each were given to upper secondary students who performed outstandingly in their examinations. In total, the awards amount to over RM2.3 million in new sponsorships for students in Sabah and Labuan this year. For the first time, the batch of scholarship recipients also include post-Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia students who are being funded to pursue pre-university studies in Sijil Tinggi Persekolahan Malaysia, diploma, foundation, matriculation and A-Level courses. according to Shell Malaysia Exploration and Production Managing Director Wee Yiaw Hin, they have been sponsoring deserving students over 40 years and most had emerged to lead or serve the nation in various corporate, social, political and academic capabilities. “Each year, we invest RM11 million nationwide in various educational assistance or capacity- building programmes and of this amount, 60 percent is invested in Sabah and Sarawak,” he said. Apart from offering bursaries and scholarships, Shell also indulges in several skills development and education-related activities for youth such as Campus Ambassador Programme, Malaysian Young Designers Awards, Shell Traffic Games and Nature Education “It is with conviction that Shell Malaysia will continue to invest in these educational programmes and youth development initiatives. Not least as they are designed to nurture our younger citizens particularly, and enable our local communities to develop themselves and eventually grow their own economic capabilities” said Wee.
