KUALA LUMPUR: About 20 students from various local universities marched nine kilometers to the Parliament to protest against the repayment schedule of the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) as outlined in the 2019 Budget.
The group, made up students from University Malaya (UM), Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, International Islamic University Malaysia and Universiti Putra Malaysia, among others, began their march from UM with the intention of handing over a memorandum to Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik over the issue.
However, they were left disappointed when they were barred from entering the Parliament building when they arrived just before 1pm.
Malaysian Islamic Student Affairs (Gamis) president, Muhammad Faizuddin Mohd Zai, said they were dejected at being unable to personally hand over their memorandum to the minister.
“We want to tell Dr Maszlee that he is a hypocrite. He spoke about democracy but we walked nine kilometers only to have to wait by the roadside.
“It’s as though we are nothing and have nothing. Yes, we do not have anything and we are not big companies that can lobby the Pakatan Harapan (PH) government.
“Students are the poorest segment of the people and will continue to be so due to our PTPTN debt being taken away from our salaries automatically, by force,” Faizuddin told reporters when met outside of the parliament house during the protest on Wednesday afternoon.
On Nov 2, during the 2019 Budget tabling, the government announced a scheduled repayment scheme of between 2 per cent and 15 per cent of the borrower’s monthly income, applicable to those who earn a monthly income of more than RM1,000.
Pakatan Harapan, in its manifesto, had pledged to allow borrowers to begin repayment only when their salaries hit RM4,000 a month.
However, PTPTN chairman Wan Saiful Wan Jan recently apologised for backtracking on the promise, saying that the fund would be hit by financial difficulty if it pressed ahead with the move.
Meanwhile, the students handed over their memorandum, containing a breakdown of the cost of living for fresh graduates who earn RM1,000, to Maszlee’s special officer, Abdul Hannaan Khairy.
Faizuddin labeled the move to send Abdul Hanaan to meet them as ignoring the voices of the students.
“When the minister sends a representative to take this memorandum, this goes to show he has sidelined and rubbished the student’s voices,” he said.
Faizuddin hoped the education minister would look into their memorandum and consider their proposal, failing which after further discussion with stakeholders, “we will walk from Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia to Putrajaya.”