KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 21- Umno Youth is not in favour of the proposal to have Higher National Education Fund (PTPTN) loan defaulters blacklisted under Bank Negara’s Central Credit Reference Information System (CCRIS).
Its head Khairy Jamaluddin said PTPTN loans were necessity for students and were different from loans made out of personal choice like applying for credit cards or vehicle financing.
“It should be recognised that PTPTN loans are needed because the government does not offer completely free education at institutions of higher learning.
“And the need to hold a qualification whether diploma or degree is essential for career and intellectual development of a youth,” he said in a statement here Tuesday.
He was responding to the proposal by Second Education Minister Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh yesterday to implement CCRIS listing of PTPTN loan defaulters, starting this month.
Idris said the initiative would make defaulters pay up as otherwise they would have difficulty securing loans for home and car ownership or applying for credit facilities.
Khairy, who is also Youth and Sports Minister, said all mechanisms available should be made use of to get PTPTN borrowers to pay up and actions provided for taken against those who are stubborn.
He said the “carrot and stick” method was still the best option in dealing with PTPTN borrowers and that it was not necessary to blacklist defaulters because very few tried to evade from servicing their loans.
– BERNAMA
