KUANTAN: Checks on the results of applications to Mara Junior Science Colleges (MRSM) for the form one intake under the 2020 schooling session can be made from today, said Rural Development Minister Datuk Seri Rina Mohd Harun.
She said the results were available much earlier this year compared to normally, prior to this, when the announcements were made after the new schooling session had started, requiring the selected students to register at other schools first.
‘This time, we ensure the checks on the results are made much earlier, namely, only two weeks after the closing date of the 2020 student intake applications, namely, November 30.
“This reform will enable parents to make appropriate preparations before the MRSM registration on January 6,’’ she told a media conference after opening the 2020 Back To School Programme@ KPLB MARA Education Foundation at the Mara High Skills College (KKTM) here yesterday.
A total of 80,319 applications were received for the 2020 form one MRSM intake compared to the available quota of 7,628 students, Rina said.
It involved 3,595 students for Premier MRSM, Ulul Albab MRSM, International General Certificate of Secondary Education Programme MRSM, Technical and International Baccalaureate Middle Years Programme MRSM.
Rina said those who were unsuccessful still had the opportunity to submit an appeal to fill vacancies left by students who rejected the offer, which would be known after the registration process was completed.
For the 2020 MRSM student intake session, Rina said 60 per cent of the quota were filled with students from B40 families as an initiative to help them study in a conducive environment in the hope they would be able to change the lot of their families in future.
“Those who come from less well-to-do families need not worry about preparation to MRSM because Mara provides an aid scheme, namely Aid For Education (BUDI) which receives the support of many corporate companies.
“Recipients of BUDI will get a RM50 in pocket money a month, exemption from the RM60 a month in hostel fee and a RM1,500 one-off payment to buy schooling needs,’’ she said.
In Pahang, Rina said, 203 form two to form five students received the BUDI aid at four MRSM, namely, Tun Abdul Razak MRSM, Muadzam Shah MRSM, Kuantan MRSM and Tun Ghazali Shafie MRSM.
For the form four MRSM intake next year, Rina said 26,160 applications were received over a quota of 1,812 involving Premier MRSM (710 students) and Special Education Programme MRSM (1,102 students).
Rina also handed over early schooling aid to 180 students from 19 primary and secondary schools in the Paya Besar Parliamentary constituency, who were part of the 2,520 recipients in Pahang during the programme involving an allocation of over RM200,000.
In addition, the minister also handed over a prosthetic leg, built by students of KKTM Kuantan. and 50 per cent lighter than those available in the market, to Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan (SMK) Paya Besar, student Nurul Hasrina Adnan, 17, who lost her right leg in an accident on Sept 20. – Bernama
