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hat we in Malaysia have excellent colleges with world-class facilities offering A-levels makes this offer unnecessary.

Every year, thousands of students are offered overseas scholarships to further their tertiary education and all of them are required to undergo a preparatory programme or a foundation course locally before going overseas.

I, being one of them, can testify that the A-level colleges in Malaysia are of reputable standard.

This can be seen when these colleges advertise their top students who have achieved world-class results. In fact, some of these colleges focus mainly on students who are sponsored under a scholarship-providing body.

If this is the case, the decision to send just one student overseas for the foundation programme would defeat the purpose of these colleges. It would seem unfair to single out a student and give her special treatment.

Doing A-levels in the UK would cost between RM150,000 and RM200,000 per student.

The same amount of money can be used to sponsor three to five students locally. How does Mara see this as advantageous for society, especially during a global recession?