'Scholars, come back or we go to court'

FORMER government scholars who reneged on their obligation to return to the country are being investigated by the Ministry of Education, which also plans to bring them to court and make them return the money that was spent on their education.

"In a short span of time, we are going to be bringing them to court to ensure that they pay the amount incurred whilst they were studying under the scholarship (programme)," said Hj Aziz Hj Nayan, acting director of the ministry's Scholarship Department.

Also subject to investigation and possible legal action are the scholars' guarantors, Hj Aziz Hj Nayan told new scholarship students during the closing and certificate presentation ceremony for their Islam Appreciation course yesterday.

"The amount of money is not small and we have estimated the costs to be up to $500,000."

"Extra charges or percentages" are not included in the whopping figure, he said, adding that both guarantor and scholar need to pay the full amount without resort to instalments. He did not state the number of former scholars who were being investigated.

"If there were charges, they would have to pay extra and we would have to get our officers to go to the Ministry of Finance and reclaim the vouchers that the government spent on the student and these students I speak of are those from 20 years ago," he said.

"So this is our hope, that the new students would draw from this example and not follow suit."

In further stressing the obligation of government scholars to return to Brunei after their studies, Hj Aziz said that the Scholarship Department has changed the format in the scholarship contract-signing ceremony.

"We (at the department) have identified that there have been times guarantors sign the contract without reading the contents of the agreement, so by explaining the terms and conditions, they would be aware of the action taken if the student decided to dishonour it," he said.

"So there are no excuses by saying you (or your guarantor) have not read the agreement."

Among reasons some former scholars renege on their obligation to return to the country is marriage, said Hj Aziz. Some female students marry foreigners and choose to live with their spouses overseas.

"Another reason was that students placed an importance on material things such as salary and money. They ... forget who were the ones responsible in giving them education privileges in the first place," he said.

Some students have sadly changed their citizenship after obtaining the scholarship and completing their education, he said.

Hj Aziz urged the new scholars to come back to Brunei after completing their education because there is no other country that would be generous enough to give free education to its citizens.

"We don't even take one cent of your salaries if you are in service with the government. Imagine how much money the government has spent on your education," he added.

About 42 scholarship students attended the event and Hj Aziz congratulated them upon their completion of the course.

The Brunei Times