UKM 'geniuses' an asset to the nation

BANGI - Fourteen years after its establishment, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Pusat GENIUS@Pintar Negara (PGPN) remains committed to its efforts to find and nurture bright and talented school students from all over the country in order to produce high-value human capital that will be an asset to the future development of the nation.

To this end, PGPN UKM is collaborating with the Ministry of Education to identify intelligent children aged between eight and 15 who are eligible to participate in the gifted and talented (GT) education programme offered by Kolej GENIUS@Pintar Negara (KGPN) at UKM; Kolej GENIUS Insan at Universiti Sains Islam Malaysia in Negeri Sembilan; and Akademi Sains Pendang in Kedah. UKM embarked on this initiative after receiving the mandate from the Cabinet in 2008 to plan, implement and monitor an educational programme for GT students from all over the country.

To participate in this programme, students must have an intelligence quotient (IQ) score of at least 130 with their mental age rated at a minimum of three years more than their biological age.

"For example, if their biological age is 11, then their mental age must be at least 14 (to qualify for the programme),” PGPN UKM director Associate Prof Dr Rorlinda Yusof told Bernama.

Rorlinda, who served as an educator and administrator for 10 years before heading PGPN UKM, said the GT education programme adheres to the philosophy that gifted and talented students are national assets that need to be preserved and their talent honed as much as possible to enable them to realise their true potential and even become Nobel Prize winners in the future.

She explained the GT education programme is structured in a challenging, advanced and holistic curriculum aimed at shaping talents that can, in future, contribute to the world - particularly in the fields of science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) and research - as thinkers and inventors with high regard for human values.

"KGPN’s GT education curriculum has enabled its students to get offers from renowned universities in the world to enter the first year of their tertiary academic programmes in a field of their choice,” she said.

According to Rorlinda, since KGPN UKM’s establishment, about 25 percent of its alumni have succeeded in pursuing their tertiary education at prestigious universities worldwide, with the remaining 75 percent continuing their education at local public universities, UKM in particular, in various disciplines of STEM and social sciences.

"Among the foreign universities our students have been placed are Johns Hopkins University, Oxford University, University of Cambridge, Cornell University, Brown University, University of Chicago and University of California, Los Angeles or UCLA,” she added.

Since the entry of the first cohort of GT students in 2011, a total of 1,445 students have been admitted to KGPN UKM as of 2022.

On the selection process, Rorlinda said parents of gifted and talented children can register them in groups through their respective schools at http://ukm1.geniuspintar.ukm.my.

The selected students will have to go through two preliminary tests, UKM1 and UKM2, to assess their IQ and a third test (UKM3) involving an interview session and a STEM competency test. They will also have to undergo various psychological tests whilst participating in the School Holiday Enrichment Programme conducted by UKM. Rorlinda, meanwhile, stressed that the academic excellence of GT students needs to be gauged differently from that of their peers from mainstream schools.

Pointing to special needs students and those from vocational and religious streams who sit for national examinations based on their inclinations, she said gifted students also deserve specialised certification.

"Like the Sijil Vokasional Malaysia (SVM) and Sijil Tinggi Agama Malaysia (STAM), both of which are recognised certificates, GT students should be given a special certificate too. They need a recognised certificate to enable them to pursue their studies at much higher levels.

"This is in line with the ‘education for all’ concept espoused by the National Education Policy. It’s also in line with our awareness as educators that there is no such thing as ‘one-size-fits-all’,” said Rorlinda who also emphasised the need for local educational institutions at various levels to provide educational support to meet the needs of GT students.

"If foreign universities can recognise the talent of our nation’s gifted students, why not us (local institutions)?” Elaborating on this, she said currently KGPN UKM students are treated like mainstream school leavers and, hence, must score excellent grades in their SPM examination in order to get sponsorship to continue their education overseas.

"Like the mainstream SPM leavers, they (GT students) are also required to go through a preparatory programme before continuing their studies even though they have been offered direct admission into the first year at a foreign university. Most scholarship offers still cite excellent SPM grades as the main criteria and this is the main constraint facing our (GT) students,” she said.

Rorlinda, who repeatedly emphasised the need for sponsorship support to open the academic pathway for gifted students, said the time has come for industries and also institutions that provide sponsorship to look towards the nation’s gifted talents and consider providing financial assistance based purely on their Gifted Education Certificate.

"We are currently working hard to help our nation’s gifted students who have received offers from foreign universities (to look for sponsorship) although they have yet to complete this year’s SPM,” she said.

Rorlinda, however, is grateful to the sponsorship or scholarships offered under the Maybank Group Scholarship Programme as well as by Yayasan Gamuda and the Ministry of Higher Education’s MyBrainSc. These organisations have adjusted their sponsorship or scholarship conditions accordingly, with the eligibility of the GT students based on either their GENIUS@Pintar High School Diploma (HSD) certificate or scholastic aptitude test (SAT) results. She said for gifted students, local sponsorship is vital as it will ensure that they return to Malaysia to work after completing their studies abroad.

"To ensure our gifted assets get to serve our nation, they must be offered scholarships (by local organisations). Since they want the best education, they are willing to receive any form of financial help from overseas institutions including university grants.

"When they accept foreign sponsorship, Malaysia must be prepared to lose such talents because they may choose to work overseas as there’s no contractual bond requiring them to return to their country to work,” she said, adding that it is a big loss for Malaysia in the context of its human capital investment.

She said Malaysia had experienced a talent drain among gifted students during the 1980s to 1990s period owing to the lack of a structured education programme then to support the needs of students with high cognitive abilities.

This, according to Rorlinda, was one of the reasons for the introduction of UKM’s GT education programme which succeeded in curbing the migration of local students to neighbouring countries.

"However, even though our nation has succeeded in holistically shaping and producing gifted students to the extent of them receiving offers to study at renowned universities abroad, the issue of sponsoring their studies has yet to be resolved. As such, it is not impossible for our nation to lose the talents that we have nurtured to other countries.

"Sponsors need to be more flexible in the sponsorship requirement for gifted students so that our country does not lose the talents that PGPN UKM has sought and groomed all this while,” she said.

She added that KGPN UKM is now working on guiding their students to make the cut for the top 20 universities in the world including the Ivy League institutions in the United States such as Harvard University, Yale University, Princeton University, Columbia University and Cornell University. Rorlinda also said that recently several KGPN UKM students received offers to take up bachelor’s degree programmes in the United States, United Kingdom and Australia based on their HSD certificates issued by PGPN UKM.

Among them is Jared Ong, 18, who is currently sitting for the SPM 2023 examination. The teenager said he received offers from two universities, University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US and University of Manchester, UK.

Jared said he has chosen to study at the University of Manchester as it offered him a fast-track academic pathway, namely a combined four-year bachelor’s degree and master’s degree programme in biochemistry, set to begin in September this year.

"I didn’t expect to get the two offers, especially from the University of Manchester. I am very grateful and happy as it has been my dream to further my studies overseas ever since I came here (KGPN UKM) to study.

"I want to expand my knowledge to get new experiences and work with experts. One day I will bring my success back to Malaysia and serve the nation,” said Jared, who has had an interest in science since he was seven years old and biochemistry since 14.

He also hoped to get a sponsor for his higher studies, estimated to cost RM159,788 (GBP 30,000) excluding his daily expenses.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Adib Rusyaidi Mohd Azilan, 19, is busy preparing himself mentally, physically and spiritually to pursue his higher education at the College of Agriculture & Life Science at the University of Wisconsin-Madison this August. He has been offered a scholarship by MyBrainSc at the Ministry of Higher Education. He advised all students, particularly those studying at KGPN UKM, not to give up easily despite the obstacles they face in attaining their dream.

"Yes, we must continue to try and must not be afraid to make decisions. If we make a wrong decision, then we need to fix it. Although it took some time for me to receive my scholarship offer and I had to postpone my studies by a year, I didn’t lose hope. In fact, I joined UKM’s ASASIpintar course to build my self-identity,” he added. - BERNAMA