KUALA LUMPUR: About RM5bil in study loans given out for tertiary education have not been settled, according to National Higher Education Fund Corporation chairman Datuk Razali Ismail.
He said since the corporation was established, it had disbursed RM10.5bil in study loans to students but only 49% had paid up.
The corporation would step up efforts to recover the money by sending reminders, publishing defaulters’ names in the press, and through court action, he told a press conference yesterday.
“The students should know their social and legal responsibilities to repay their loans,” he added.
Nonetheless, Razali said, the borrowers’ failure to settle their loans would not hinder the corporation’s duty to give loans to students from poor families, as “this is a long-term investment by the Government to develop human capital.”
For the new semester starting this month, Razali said, RM1.5bil had been allocated for public university students – RM600mil for 90,000 new students and RM900mil for about 300,000 senior year students.
He said payment for private university students would be made later based on the entry registration date fixed by the university managements.
Razali said the corporation had set aside RM69mil in loan advances to new students enrolling in public universities to enable them to register.
He said the RM1,500 advance for each student had been credited to their accounts since June 2. Some 46,014 students whose family monthly income was below RM2,000 were eligible.
Of the total, RM20.6mil was channelled to 13,794 students with SPM qualification and RM48.4mil to 32,220 STPM, matriculation and diploma holders, he said. – Bernama
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