24 July 2018
MCA Youth Young Professionals & Varsity Students Bureau Chairman Choo Wei Sern
Govt must come out with fair and effective solution to secure PTPTN’s financial sustainability
Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching’s suggestion that actions will be taken to bankrupt PTPTN loan defaulters before blacklisting them from leaving the country is very much an overkill.
Undeniably, every debtor has the responsibility to repay what was due. In the past, PTPTN had adopted a clear system, be it to reward or punish debtors where those who settled their loans early got discounts while those who defaulted on their repayments were barred from leaving the country. Yet, the Pakatan Harapan government had stopped this practise and made things unfair for those who repaid their loans. In the event without penalty, the government is indirectly encouraging people to default on their loans.
The purpose of PTPTN is to cultivate talents and to help students complete their tertiary education by providing them low-interest loan. Bankrupting a graduate is unfair and deviates from the true objectives of the education loan.
The Education Ministry ought to keep in mind that the Bankruptcy Act 2016 sets a minimum threshold of RM50,000 before those who default in their PTPTN loans can be made bankrupts.
In such instance, what if there is a student who owes RM30,000, and another who owes RM60,000, where the latter will face serious repercussions whilst the former will get off scot-free. Such unfairness and inequity is something the Deputy Education Minister should look into.
Moreover, according to the PH’s manifesto, the government had pledged to delay the repayment of the PTPTN loans for those who make less than RM4,000 a month; and in spite of that, the Education Ministry is now proposing to bankrupt these debtors. This appears to be hypocritical.
It is my opinion that things would be better if the government could ensure that all PTPTN debtors are employed within six months to a year from their graduation. After that, these debtors should repay a percentage, ideally around 5% to 10%, of their salary to PTPTN. Only then can the education loan be financially sustainable and benefit more Malaysians in the long run.
Choo Wei Sern
MCA Youth Young Professionals & Varsity Students Bureau Chairman
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