PKR: Guarantee students won't be victims again

PKR director of strategy Rafizi Ramli today sought a guarantee from Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin that the government will never again "gamble" with students future "for Umno's political interest".

Commenting on the reversal of the "childish" freeze on National Higher Education Fund (PTPTN) loans for students of two Selangor varsities, he said such a pledge should also be extended by the other minister involved.

"A responsible person will not instruct PTPTN to freeze loan disbursements, so he must guarantee that PTPTN will not do this for any other institutions and students who qualify for the loans," he said.

Rafizi (left) added that if anything, the episode showed how Umno ministers were "happy that the students were suffering due to their political games".

In contrast, he said, Pakatan Rakyat leaders proved that they put the students first by setting up a RM30 million fund to assist the affected students.

Meanwhile, party colleague and Selangor youth chief Azmizam Zamanhuri said that the episode will not dilute Pakatan Rakyat's commitment to its free education policy proposal.

"(We) believe that this is the right time for the rakyat to show their support to Pakatan and its education policy, which suits the needs of the country.

"We will not compromise nor will we threaten the rakyat, by turning education as a bargaining tool to hit out at a political rival," he said in a separate statement.

In another immediate reaction, Selangor Menteri Besar Abdul Khalid Ibrahim’s poltical secretary Faekah Hussin said the move to reverse the freeze was done after Khaled realised that he was digging Umno’s own grave.

'Freeze had back-fired' 

“Khaled’s decision to freeze the PTPTN loan which was supported by Deputy Prime Minister Muhyiddin Yassin was ill-intentioned, which had back-fired.

“Muhyiddin has said that the freeze was fair but after the decision has been reversed, would he dare say that the unfreezing of loans is unfair?” she said in a statement today.

She added that Selangor contributes RM90 billion in taxes to the federal government which makes up 23 percent of the country’s income, but the state only receives RM370 million back in the form of development funds.

“This amount is disproportionate with Selangor’s contribution to the country’s development, clearly, the federal government practices serious discrimination against Selangor,” she said.