BORROWERS who have not paid a sen to the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) owe around RM2.74 billion, said Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching.

She said 375,976 borrowers, or 19.65%, have never serviced their loans. 

“As many as 375,976 borrowers or 19.65% have not made any amount of payments back, which amounts to RM2.74 billion,” Teo told The Dewan Rakyat today. 

The government, however, has collected loan payments from some 1.5 million borrowers (68.62%) which amounts to RM13.86 billion, Teo said. 

As of September 2018, PTPTN has funded 2,963,345 people for their higher education, at a cost of an estimated RM54.37 billion. 

Teo said PTPTN expects to spend another RM15 billion for the years 2019 to 2023, at a cost of RM3 billion each year.

However, the Kulai MP said Malaysians should not be dependent on PTPTN for study loans, and encouraged people to save under the National Education Savings Scheme (SSPN).

“The parents need to do financial planning by saving for studies. They can save under SSPN via PTPTN. 

“This was a good offer by the government…you save RM500, you get another RM500,” Teo said.

Teo said the government was giving 500,000 units of savings but only 150,000 have been taken up. 

She also said parents that save under this scheme would get a tax exemption up to RM6,000 for each parent up to 2020. 

The deputy minister added she would be discussing with the finance ministry to increase the text exemptions to encourage more parents to save. 

“We will discuss with the finance ministry to get approval to increase the tax relief or increase the number of years,” Teo said. – November 1, 2018