Study abroad is also good

HE Public Service Department scholarships issue may end in a few days with the Prime Minister’s promise to probe the matter. But this doesn’t mean that it can be solved as the problem has been recurring for years.Whether the people in the PSD who are in charge of awarding scholarships have double standards or otherwise, they would know best.

The number of applicants for Overseas Degree Programme Scholarships is greater than those applying for Local Degree Programme Scholarships.When the results of the scholarships were out many PILN applicants were disappointed they did not get a PIDN scholarship. But why were they sad?The reason was their lack of confidence in local universities.How are we going to convince applicants that studying in local universities is as good as studying abroad?We have to revamp and improve the quality of our universities so that they are on par with other universities in the region and attract scholars to opt for local universities when furthering their higher education.