PTPTN chief: It's all because someone wants to be PM
National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) chairperson Ismail Mohamed Said blamed “a certain individual who wants to become the prime minister” as the reason behind all the controversies including the abolition of PTPTN.
“In fact, all these issues arose because of the ambition of a certain individual to become prime minister.
“But many things were decided when he was the deputy prime minister and acting prime minister,” said Ismail when asked why the PTPTN issue was raised after it has been implemented for 15 years.
Although he did not name the person, it was obvious he was referring to PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.
The PTPTN Bill was tabled in Parliament in 1997 when Anwar was the deputy prime minister and acting prime minister.
In an interview with Malay daily Sinar Harian published today, the Kuala Krau MP from Umno conceded that should the fund be abolished, hundreds of private higher education institutions will have to end their business.
“Out of 600 private higher education institutions, as many as 434 are sponsored by PTPTN. It (the abolition) will cause these institutions to close shop,” he was quoted as saying.
He revealed that there are 603,810 students in private colleges borrowing a total of RM20.2 billion from the PTPTN up to this year.
This amount is slightly lower than half of the total loans of RM43.85 billion given out by the PTPTN to 1.96 million students since its establishment.
Besides private colleges, students from low-income families will also be victimised, said Ismail.
According to him, before the students took the issue to the street and Dataran Merdeka, the PTPTN had invited student leaders to discuss the issue in a roundtable meeting organised by Umno Youth.
“Unfortunately they did not attend to express their views but chose to hold demonstrations.”
‘PTPTN open to suggestions on admin charge’
Ismail stressed that the PTPTN is open to suggestions on abolishing the one percent administrative charge.
“We are studying the matter with the Higher Education Ministry. We hope that the ministry and the people who make the demand bring up the matter to the prime minister.
“However, so far we still maintain the current policy,” he said.
Ismail also explained that the quantum of loan offered to students is based on their family income. For household income of less than RM4,000, the students can enjoy a full loan; for household income between RM4,001 to RM5,000, the students can have only have a half-loan; and for household income higher than RM5,000, the students can only borrow for their tuition fees.
“In fact, all these issues arose because of the ambition of a certain individual to become prime minister.
“But many things were decided when he was the deputy prime minister and acting prime minister,” said Ismail when asked why the PTPTN issue was raised after it has been implemented for 15 years.Although he did not name the person, it was obvious he was referring to PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim.
The PTPTN Bill was tabled in Parliament in 1997 when Anwar was the deputy prime minister and acting prime minister.
In an interview with Malay daily Sinar Harian published today, the Kuala Krau MP from Umno conceded that should the fund be abolished, hundreds of private higher education institutions will have to end their business.
“Out of 600 private higher education institutions, as many as 434 are sponsored by PTPTN. It (the abolition) will cause these institutions to close shop,” he was quoted as saying.
He revealed that there are 603,810 students in private colleges borrowing a total of RM20.2 billion from the PTPTN up to this year.
This amount is slightly lower than half of the total loans of RM43.85 billion given out by the PTPTN to 1.96 million students since its establishment.
Besides private colleges, students from low-income families will also be victimised, said Ismail.
According to him, before the students took the issue to the street and Dataran Merdeka, the PTPTN had invited student leaders to discuss the issue in a roundtable meeting organised by Umno Youth.
“Unfortunately they did not attend to express their views but chose to hold demonstrations.”
‘PTPTN open to suggestions on admin charge’
Ismail stressed that the PTPTN is open to suggestions on abolishing the one percent administrative charge.
“We are studying the matter with the Higher Education Ministry. We hope that the ministry and the people who make the demand bring up the matter to the prime minister.
“However, so far we still maintain the current policy,” he said.
Ismail also explained that the quantum of loan offered to students is based on their family income. For household income of less than RM4,000, the students can enjoy a full loan; for household income between RM4,001 to RM5,000, the students can have only have a half-loan; and for household income higher than RM5,000, the students can only borrow for their tuition fees.
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