KULAI: The National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) has allocated RM210mil under the PTPTN eKasih Children's Scholarship (PTPTN BAeK), benefiting 10,000 students from poor and hardcore poor families.
Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Dr Zambry Abd Kadir said the allocation is a significant increase from the RM120mil announced by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim under Budget 2026 last October, which was expected to benefit 5,800 recipients.
"Under the latest announcement in the Malaysia Higher Education Plan (RPTM) 2026-2035, the number of beneficiaries of this free education initiative has been increased to 10,000 from low-income families," he said after presenting PTPTN BAeK awards to two recipients in Johor on Sunday (June 14).
Also present were PTPTN chairman Datuk Seri Norliza Abdul Rahim, chief executive Ahmad Dasuki Abdul Majid and Johor PTPTN State Office director Mazni Ruslan.
Zambry said eligible recipients must be registered in the eKasih database and enrolled full-time in Diploma or Bachelor's Degree programmes at public higher education institutions (IPTA) from Jan 1 this year.
He also urged the public and IPTAs to inform PTPTN of students who may qualify for the scholarship.
Meanwhile, Norliza said as of May 31, the scholarship had benefited 402 students nationwide, involving RM8.79mil in allocations since its introduction this year.
The scholarship is open to Malaysian students aged 25 and below who are enrolled in PTPTN-registered courses, have an active Simpan SSPN account, no outstanding loan arrears and at least one semester remaining in their studies.
Recipients will receive RM4,750 annually for Diploma studies, RM6,180 for Bachelor's Degree (Arts) programmes and RM6,650 for Bachelor's Degree (Science) programmes.
Norliza said students must first apply for a PTPTN loan through the myPTPTN web application. The loan will be approved first to ensure they can continue their studies, before being considered for the scholarship if they meet the eligibility requirements.
Successful applicants will be notified via email and the myPTPTN application. They must submit the offer documents at any PTPTN counter within 14 days of receiving the offer letter. Scholarship payments will be made every semester.
Among the recipients were Alin Nairien Wong Mohd Allif Wong, 20, and Muhammad Amar Khoo Arif Khoo, 21, who said the scholarship would ease their families' financial burden and help them focus on their studies.
Alin Nairien, from Tanjung Sedili near Kota Tinggi and a Diploma in Event Management student at Politeknik Ibrahim Sultan (PIS), said she relies on the income of her mother and eldest brother following her father's death in 2019.
"This scholarship eases the burden on my mother and brother. It also motivates me to study harder and make them proud one day," she said.
Muhammad Amar, a Cyber Security degree student at Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), expressed appreciation to the government and PTPTN, saying the scholarship would help reduce the financial burden on his father, who supports him and his two siblings.
The PTPTN BAeK scholarship presentation programme will continue in Melaka next week, with two recipients set to receive the award. – Bernama
