(Oct 28): Pakatan Harapan today urged Putrajaya to give full National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) loans to students from low and middle-income households, as many could not afford the high costs of university fees and living expenses.

They said many were affected by the slash in PTPTN loans, adding that the amount given should not merely take into account the household income but also how many family members there were.

"This request is realistic following a statement by PTPTN at the end of 2014, which stated an increase in loan repayments close to RM2.5 million a day because of the threat to blacklist borrowers and list them in CCRIS," said Kota Raja MP Dr Siti Mariah Mahmud from Amanah.

In a joint press conference with lawmakers Zairil Khir Johari (DAP-Bukit Bendera) and Rafizi Ramli (PKR-Pandan), Siti said since November 2014, PTPTN has reduced its funding for new students according to household incomes.

"Those who receive BR1M (Bantuan Rakyat 1Malaysia) have also not been excluded, they are only given 85% of the cost of the course in the university.

"Parents, who are clearly from the lower-income group have to absorb 15% of the university costs, living costs, and other costs for the education. With no EPF savings and others, it is not surprising that this lower 40% will be relegated from higher education in the country," she said.

Zairil said the government should consider giving leeway for new graduates to pay up their PTPTN loans, including using a contingent-loan system, that will see repayments based on income.

"PTPTN is a mortgage-type loan. There is a fixed interest rate, fixed repayment and fixed period to repay. We propose they use income-contingent loan which would be based on income.

"So that means those who earn RM1,500 will not pay the same amount every month as those who earn RM3,000 or more. And low-income earners should be exempted from paying or given a grace period until they have a better income," he added.

The opposition lawmakers were responding to the slash in allocations for education in the Budget 2016, which saw it being cut by 15.25% from last year's allocation.

In the tabling of the Budget 2016 last week, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak allocated RM13.378 billion for higher education. The allocation is 5% of the total budget, as compared with the RM15.785 billion in last year’s budget.

Opposition lawmakers have decried the cut in budget for education, with many warning that the quality of local universities would suffer with this.

However, minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said the drop of RM2.4 billion in allocation will not affect the ministry in its effort to promote education.

He said the reduced allocation was due to Putrajaya's adversely affected income as a result of the fall in national oil and commodity prices.

“We must understand the current challenging economic situation, and the government can still afford to provide the ministry with quite a comfortable budget. Admittedly, it is less (than the previous budget) but it is to train the universities to be more efficient in its implementation. – The Malaysian Insider