KUALA LUMPUR – The government has no intention of writing off the National Higher Education Fund Corp (PTPTN) debts of students from lower income families for the time being – due to the sheer amount of funds involved, the Dewan Rakyat heard.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said based on early estimates, the proposal to cancel the PTPTN debts for those in B40 households would involve a total of 1.84 million borrowers and loans amounting to a staggering RM42.34 billion.
Instead, he said the government offers various alternative measures to ease the borrowers’ burden, including restructuring loans and postponing repayment for those who have yet to secure employment.
Other initiatives include discounts for those who make full payment in a lump sum and for repayment to only begin 12 months after the borrowers complete their higher studies.
He was responding to questions from Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal (Machang-PN) on when the government intends to fulfil the promise made by Pakatan Harapan (PH) in its election manifesto to cancel PTPTN debts for the poor – and if the federal administration has the political will to do it.
According to Khaled, although parties had made various promises pre-election, it has been the unity government’s stand to only implement manifesto pledges that are similarly proposed by all component entities.
“We found that in the question of PTPTN, all political parties did not offer the same promise,” he said in the Dewan Rakyat today.
“In this regard, I hope we can accept the fact that what is important is the question of capability and continuity. That is why this (cancellation of debt) cannot be implemented at the moment.”
Immediately after Khaled’s response, Economy Minister Rafizi Ramli cited Standing Order 36(12) of the Dewan Rakyat, seeking for the speaker to refer Wan Fayhsal to the Rights and Privileges Committee for misleading the lower House.
Rafizi, who is PKR deputy president, said Wan Fayhsal had lied as PH had never included the cancellation of PTPTN loans as part of its manifesto for the 15th general election (GE15).
Deputy Speaker Datuk Ramli Mohd Nor then told Rafizi to write officially to the speaker’s office.
A check by The Vibes on PH’s GE15 manifesto found that the coalition had, indeed, proposed to write off PTPTN debts for the poor and B40 households in what it described as the issue of unreasonable education loans.
Later in a press conference, Wan Fayhsal maintained that he had not misled the Dewan Rakyat as his question was based specifically on PH’s manifesto, while showing a copy of the document to the press.
“I think the youth want to know what your policy stands for. It appears as though since becoming the government, they no longer want to refer to their manifesto.” – The Vibes, February 14, 2023
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