Candidates who did well in their STPM but failed to get a Public Service Department scholarship for the course of their choice should take advantage of the subsidised fees offer to study at private universities and colleges.

The only condition imposed by the PTPTN, which is responsible for providing study loans, is that they cannot study for the critical courses for which they could not get a scholarship in the first place

Their relief is understandable. It can cost three to four hundred thousand ringgit to read medicine at a private university and up to a million overseas.

They are realistic enough to know that it would be difficult to get a PSD scholarship for medicine and, if their son or daughter should insist on it, they would have to find the money somehow to meet this heavy financial commitment.

Many aspiring doctors still do not realise that doctoring is a serious and full-time profession and they are on call 24 hours a day, especially if they are specialists.

They must be prepared for disruption in their social and family life since they may need to attend to a patient at a moment’s notice.

Those who did not get a PSD scholarship should move on instead of moaning. Not everyone is able to fulfil his or her ambition when it comes to education. They will have to be philosophical and look at other options.

Apart from prestige, there is really little attraction in doctoring except for those who are really dedicated. Many may have joined the profession, but at the same time only a few are really committed to the Hippocratic Oath.

So the top scorers should not allow their disappointment to spoil their own future since there are many professions in which they can do equally well, if not better, financially.

In private universities and colleges, students can enrol for courses in many core professions, among them economics, law, accountancy, business administration, finance, information technology and engineering, just to name a few.

They can also join the university or college of their choice, and instead of paying full fees they will be paying the same as those studying at public universities, which is affordable for those involved.

In fact, they should feel privileged that they have this opportunity to further their education. Their fellow students can only envy them for their good fortune.

In monetary terms, those taking up the PSD offer therefore will only pay hardly the equivalent of a year’s fees compared with what their fellow students will need to spend.

This is such an attractive alternative and it will be silly of them not to seize such a special offer. The other appeal is that all courses offered by the private sector are tailored for both public and commercial firms.

Operators involved in private education are only keen to start courses that are relevant and of interest to the business community. The chances of graduates landing jobs are therefore extremely high compared with those coming out of public universities.

Otherwise, these educational centres will have to close shop for lack of students. In fact, they will not hesitate to drop courses that are not in demand.