Don’t lie about your income to appear as B40 so your children can get into MRSM, Asyraf Wajdi tells parents

KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 21 — Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) chairman Datuk Asyraf Wajdi Dusuki today called out parents who lie in their income statements to appear as B40 just so their children can get a spot in the Mara Junior Science College (MRSM).

He said that the current policy of MRSM schools has a quota of at least 60 per cent for B40 students.

“I pity those children learning without blessings because they took the right of another poor child.

“The policy of at least 60 per cent of B40 remains and I am committed that next year more than 70 per cent will come from those with poor families and low-income rural areas,” he said in a statement posted on Facebook.

The MARA chairman also emphasised that children from the T20 group do have a place in MRSM.

“MRSM’s policy still recognises and accepts students from the T20 group who excel in the UKKM exams.

“What’s important is that they are eligible and do not lie about their income status, especially those who do not have pay slips and are working independently,” he said.

The MARA chairman admitted that it is important that students from various backgrounds mingle with each other.

He also conceded that those from T20 backgrounds are big contributors to the activities and programmes in MRSM.

In another Facebook post yesterday, he also asked for the public’s opinion on whether a student from a T20 background should pay the full fees for MRSM as he noted that the cost borne by MARA for one student is RM18,000.