PARTI Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu) youth wing (Armada) wants Umno Youth to set aside political differences and work together to resolve National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) debts among youths.

Its chief Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman said the cooperation will allow Armada to access government data on the matter.

This was in response to the complaint by a group of diploma students were instructed to settle their PTPTN loans even before graduating in 2014.

“We are urging Umno Youth to work with us in settling the PTPTN debt issue if they are truly serious towards fighting for the fate of young Malays who are most troubled by the debt,” he said during a press conference in Petaling Jaya today.

Armada Graduate and Education Exco, Abdul Hannaan Khairy estimated that there are around 50,000 diploma students who are indebted to PTPTN.

They have now been blacklisted on CCRIS, prevented from travelling overseas and from applying bank loans.

“Although PTPTN approved a postponement on the monthly repayment, the graduates still had to service their loans.

“This was to stop them from getting summoned by PTPTN and pay for other legal cost, still they are still being blacklisted by CCRIS,” Abdul Hannaan said, adding that estimate involves 20 public universities.

Towards this end, Armada called on PTPTN to adjust the payment schedules on diploma graduates planning to take their first degree, the same offer given to students who borrowed from them after 2014. – July 14, 2017.