This, said Serdang MP Ong Kian Ming, was because those who graduated with top marks had the opportunity to secure high-paying jobs that would enable them to repay their loans.
He said the exemption was also a non-progressive move considering PTPTN’s funding problems and the losses it was making year after year.
“Researches conducted in developing countries show that those from the above average income group often have a higher chance of securing a first-class grade.
“Let’s say out of 10,000 students, a hundred of them graduate first class. Most of these 100 graduates are those from the above average income group.
“They are well prepared before heading to their respective universities.
“They have resources such as laptops and reading materials that have been provided to them since young,” said Ong at a forum organised by Penang Institute titled “Sustainability of the PTPTN loan scheme” last night.
He added that based on his own observations, first-class graduates tended to have higher than average starting salaries.
Therefore, such an exemption would only help those who were able to repay their loans instead of those who were not able to.
Ong said in 2015, PTPTN’s loan exemption amounted to RM841 million.
“What I’m trying to say is that this is not a progressive policy. PTPTN has to think of the cost incurred through this policy.”
Last Thursday, Deputy Higher Education Minister Mary Yap Kain Ching said a total of 1,574,700 PTPTN borrowers had failed to repay their loans, totalling RM32.07 billion.
Up until November this year, PTPTN had provided a total of RM59.67 bilion loans to 2.6 million students.
In the same period, PTPTN only received RM10.07 billion from 1.2 million borrowers. This is far less than the RM18.84 billion the corporation should have received, added Yap.