KUCHING: A total of 22,580 borrowers of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) in Sarawak has failed to repay their loan.
PTPTN general manager Yussuf Chik said the total number of borrowers in the state was 74,278 and 51,698 of the total had successfully repaid.
“The corporation collaborates with various agencies such as Sahabat PTPTN which assists us to inform borrowers to fulfil their obligations in repaying the loan.
“The repayment of the loan is very important. Otherwise we cannot afford to cover the loan amount from the number of increasing students every year,” he said during the Majlis Meraikan Sahabat PTPTN Negeri Sarawak 2019, at Pusaka, yesterday.
He added that its headquarters is located at Jalan Kulas and the branches are located in UTC Kuching, Sibu and Miri.
“We also are committed to promoting and encouraging the people to save for education through the National Education Savings Scheme (SSPN),” he said.
He explained that it was a comprehensive savings scheme which was approved by the Education Ministry.
“We do not want the community, especially students to rely so much on our loans to pursue their studies,” he said.
He added that the corporation does not want to restrict excellent students from pursuing higher education due to financial problems.
“There are many benefits provided by SSPN as they get the dividends and more in return.
“If the savings are enough, they do not need to apply for the loan and this would give others the chance to apply for the loan,” he said.
