It was recently announced that the Ministry of Higher Education (KPT) does not plan to continue giving the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loan repayment discount under Budget 2024.
According to Minister of Higher Education, Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin, the decision as to whether or not the PTPTN discount will be continued will depend on the Ministry of Finance’s (MOF) approval.
PTPTN discounts under Budget 2023 has ended
He said that the repayment discount as announced in Budget 2023 had ended on May 31, 2023 after launching the 2023 national-level Academic Day and Academic Month. Khaled added that the ministry is no longer continuing with the discounts at the moment.
During the tabling of Budget 2023, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is also the Finance Minister, said the government had agreed to give discounts of up to 20 percent on PTPTN loan repayments for three months starting 1 March.
Additionally, the government also agreed to defer repayment for borrowers with a monthly income of RM1,800 and below for a period of six months to ease their financial burden.
For the initiative, there are four categories that are currently eligible. These are a 20 percent discount on the remaining debt for full settlement of the loan; a 15 percent discount for the settlement of at least 50 percent of the total outstanding debt; a 15 percent discount for repayments through salary deduction or direct debit; and a 5 percent discount for repayment through the myPTPTN application.
MOHE to focus on 3 items for Budget 2024
Mohamed Khaled also mentioned that the ministry would also focus on three items under Budget 2024, chief among them being digitalisation, research and innovation and student housing, Bernama reports.
“We are hoping that the government will support our application to implement and apply digitalisation in a bid to make the management of the higher education ecosystem in the country a success.
“We believe that through digitalisation, we can improve and further escalate efforts to ensure we continue to excel in the higher education sector,” he said.
