Main Campus, 20th May 2024- Universiti Sains Malaysia’s students are facing a hard time joining the MyCSD provided program due to the fees charged in order to collect the points. MyCSD is a point provided through a program and collected by students to have a place in desasiswa of USM. 

 

According to Vesswa Sahathevan from the School of Social Science, paying the MyCSD is a way for USM to ensure deserving students receive the reward by providing desasiswa. He added that unfortunately it does not guarantee a place as many students are willing to pay and compete to collect more than required points while achieving excellent academic performance, leaving the rest with no choice regardless of their financial situation.

 

“I’ve heard stories from a few friends with a stack of MyCSD points but failed to get a place in desasiswa. It is upsetting and I believe that their circumstances are not so allowing. I have joined and paid a few programs with the range of RM20 to RM 50 and received only around 2 to 5 points for each”, Vesswa added.

 

Nurfitrah Che Yussof from School of Education explained that the MyCSD fees are relevant only for those who are not from the B40 group, as approximately around 70% of USM students are from the B40 group. It is crucial for the B40 to have the desasiswa as they can’t provide renting outside of the USM due to higher payment fees and farther distance.

 

“Beside the MyCSD there are other alternatives for B40 students as I myself did and was successful. I had made an appeal towards the person in charge of managing the desadiswa. I went through a lot of process along the way and needed to submit a handful of documents to ensure they approve my appeal. Thankfully I succeeded and am currently staying in desasiswa”, Fitrah added.