PBS: If govt can give scholarships to Palestinians, it should also help PTPTN defaulters, TAR College

KOTA KINABALU: The government should review its decision on education loan defaulters, as well as its funding cuts for Tunku Abdul Rahman College, in view of its ability to provide scholarship for foreigners.

Opposition Parti Bersatu Sabah deputy president Datuk Dr Yee Moh Chai said the government had cited shortage of funds, when it decided to recover National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) loans from defaulters and cut funding for TAR college.

"This government, now, being financially able to provide scholarships to Palestinians, is obviously not short of education funds.

"While we are not arguing over the merits of using our taxpayers' money for foreigners to get an education, what about the education plight of our own Malaysians?" he asked in a statement on Thursday (May 23).

"If we are so concerned with the education of non-Malaysians, why, at the same time, are we so hard on our own PTPTN holders?" the former deputy chief minister said, reacting to Malaysia providing RM11.48mil in scholarships for Palestinians.

He said many PTPTN holders were now being punished for their inability to repay the loan.

"It is not acceptable that the government has cited shortage of funds, as an excuse, for not honouring its (Pakatan Harapan) manifesto to the PTPTN holders, yet, at the same time, it has money to give away scholarships to foreigners," he added.

Dr Yee said it was also absurd to punish TAR College by giving them less than half the amount of funds, as compared with what has been committed to the scholarships for foreigners.

"This is deplorable when TAR college has educated so many Malaysians, some of whom are now even members of the current government. We urge the government to be fair," he added