Pakatan & PTPTN

Rafizi Ramli says PTPTN should be abolished sooner than later, otherwise the nation will go bankrupt. But, with PTPTN abolished, and with the provision of free tertiary education, will not the nation go bankrupt even faster?

Arshad Mohd Nor 

At the rate Pakatan leaders are contradicting each other, it is becoming increasingly clear that they cannot provide a credible alternative to BN. A simple example of their credibility gap is how they have been addressing the PTPTN issue.

To date 1.9 million students have availed themselves of PTPTN loans to the tune of RM 43.6 billion. This figure has been estimated to grow at 11% annually. So, by next year end, PTPTN loans would have increased to RM53.21 billion.

Pakatan supremo Anwar Ibrahim has been quoted as saying that, if Pakatan were to come to power, he would write off the PTPTN loans.

Pakatan has also promised free tertiary education in public institutions. So, that will probably cost another RM10 billion, at a conservative estimate. That makes it a total of over RM60 billion in year one of Pakatan rule. That’s RM60 billion down the drain. Where will they find the funds to finance this massive expenditure? That’s the curious part.

But the curiouser part is this: PKR strategy director Rafizi Ramli says PTPTN should be abolished sooner than later, otherwise the nation will go bankrupt. But, with PTPTN abolished, and with the provision of free tertiary education, will not the nation go bankrupt even faster? Pakatan should re-do its maths. If it really insists on fulfilling all its shaky promises, the education bill alone will hang over its neck like an albatross.

It has been acknowledged worldwide that Malaysia already spends a large chunk of its budget on education.  In the world ranking it is No. 10, spending 8.1% of GDP on education. That is higher than all the developed countries. Malaysia therefore has its priorities right. Nobody should be allowed to tamper with a winning formula, especially not those with nothing else on their mind except political advantage at the expense of the rakyat.