PTPTN to get feedback from public on repayments

The National Higher Education Fund Corp (PTPTN), saying it has tried every tactic possible to get borrowers to repay loans amounting to RM6.3bil, is taking its case to the people.

The public will be invited to give their say on how best to collect the money owed by defaulters.

PTPTN chairman Wan Saiful Wan Jan, who said this, added that the body would conduct public consultations “focusing on loan repayment mechanisms”.

“The repayment method for PTPTN has been discussed a lot and has been the focus since Pakatan Harapan became the government.

“It is still the focus as it has yet to be resolved,” he said yesterday.

Wan Saiful said 51% of the two million borrowers had not started servicing their loans or had paid inconsistently.

He said the document containing the results and discussions with various stakeholders from Dec­ember 2018 to March would be put up online to get public feedback.

The stakeholders included bankers, economists, parents and student groups.

“There will also be townhall and roundtable sessions to discuss ideas,” he said.

Wan Saiful revealed that the proposals in the document included deferring loan repayments for those earning less than RM4,000 a month and a scheduled repayment scheme of between 2% and 15% of the borrower’s monthly income.

He added that the public consultations would run in the second half of the year for three to four weeks.

Once completed, the feedback would be compiled and presented to the Education Ministry for further scrutiny, he said.

“The minister will need to take it to the Cabinet for a final decision,” added Wan Saiful.

He said the target was to collect at least RM2bil this year.

Since its inception in 1997 to this February, PTPTN had allocated RM56bil to help more than three million students.

As of Dec 31 2018, 1.9 million borrowers had loans amounting to a total of RM20.7bil.

This included amounts that were not due yet, said PTPTN deputy chief executive (Policy and Opera­tion) Mastura Mohd Khalid.