KUALA LUMPUR: Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said the government will discuss the possible abolishment of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) after the issue was raised during the recent Johor state elections.
He said he would discuss the matter with Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abd Kadir.
"I will try to discuss PTPTN amicably as the Johor Mentri Besar (Datuk Onn Hafiz Ghazi from Barisan Nasional) is also part of the unity government at the federal level so we want to discuss this properly.
"I will also discuss this with the Higher Education Minister," Anwar told the Dewan Rakyat during Prime Minister's Question Time on Tuesday (July 14).
Anwar was responding to a supplementary question from Khoo Poay Tiong (PH-Kota Melaka) during discussions on the effects of the Strait of Hormuz closure on the Malaysian economy.
Khoo had sprung the surprise unrelated question after stating that Barisan Nasional had used the issue to discredit Pakatan Harapan during the Johor state elections.
"My second question is on the youth and how can we help this group, especially those who have just graduated from university?
"This is because the Johor Mentri Besar recently criticised Pakatan (during the state election), saying that the government had promised to abolish PTPTN but that we never did.
"The Johor Mentri said that about us (Pakatan) despite the fact that the current Higher Education Minister (Zambry) is from Barisan.
"So, prime minister, can you reconsider this so that we can abolish PTPTN?" Khoo asked.
This comes after Barisan and Pakatan stood on opposite sides during the recent Johor state elections which saw Barisan win a significant victory, claiming 48 of the 56 contested seats.
While Barisan increased its majority in the Johor state assembly by eight seats compared to the 2022 state election, Pakatan lost four of its state seats, dropping from 12 to eight.
For context, the predecessor of Pakatan, Pakatan Rakyat, had previously pledged to abolish PTPTN and introduce free higher education as part of its election manifesto in 2013.
Pakatan has since repeatedly promised to either write off or defer PTPTN loan repayments for B40 borrowers or those earning below a certain threshold during the 2018 and 2022 general elections.
