LETTER | Govt should continue PTPTN repayment discount

LETTER | On Oct 4, Higher Education Minister Mohamed Khaled Nordin issued a statement on the abolition of discount incentives for National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loan repayments.

Following that, the PTPTN loan repayment discount incentive that ended May 31, as announced during the presentation of the Budget 2023, will no longer continue or be a discussion issue for the upcoming Budget 2024.

When it was first announced, Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said the discount was aimed at easing the financial burden of affected borrowers.

So the question arises, does the action to abolish the loan repayment discount incentive mean that borrowers are free from their financial burden?

Mahasiswa Progresif Universiti Malaya is of the view that this kind of action is like a blow to the fate of PTPTN borrowers because they are no longer eligible to receive discounts as given by the government before.

This initiative involves a discount of 20% for the full settlement of the debt balance and 15% for the partial settlement of the forest balance.

This discount is one of the initiatives that favour the welfare of the borrowers because it can ease the burden of paying their debts.

In addition, this discount is also an incentive for borrowers to partially or fully settle their education loan debt.

Therefore, the government's desire not to continue giving this loan repayment discount is just a step backwards that ultimately has no impact on fellow borrowers who just want to start their careers.

Mahasiswa Progresif also believes that this initiative is one of the best steps in encouraging borrowers to pay off their education loan debt.

In addition, Mahasiswa Progresif would like to remind the minister that any action seen to burden students at the higher education level at this time will further reduce the interest of young people to continue their studies to a higher level.

This matter not only affects the future productivity of the country but also affects the development of human capital in the future.

Do not let this shortsighted decision adversely impact beneficial long-term plans.

Therefore, we urge that this matter continue to be refined by reassessing whether this is the concept of Madani that has been announced by the government.

We also hope that the prime minister will discuss the issue with the Finance Minister so that the PTPTN loan repayment discount incentive is not abolished but rather continued in the presentation of the Madani Budget 2024 next week.

MAHASISWA PROGRESIF is a student movement at the Universiti of Malaya that fights for the welfare and empowerment agenda of students.

The views expressed here are those of the author/contributor and do not necessarily represent the views of Malaysiakini.