PTPTN aims to collect RM20m for poor student fund

The National Higher Education Fund Corporation is (PTPTN) targeting over RM20 million to be collected by the end of this year in the 1Malaysia Poor Students Fund (BPM1M).

PTPTN Chairman Datuk Ismail Mohamed Said said when sufficient funds were collected and the government's approval was obtained, it would be distributed to poor students and underprivileged groups who wished to pursue tertiary education.

"With such assistance, these poor students no longer need to take a large amount of PTPTN loan to further their studies at the tertiary institutions," he told reporters after launching the Kedah PTPTN office, here today.

He said, besides providing loans, PTPTN was constantly streamlining its higher education loan financing methods and strategies to ensure it did not burden the students.

The BPM1M is one of the PTPTN fund raising initiatives through contribution from local companies, which would be utilised to help sponsor half, if not the full cost of education for poor students in the country.

Ismail said companies which contributed to the fund were eligible to receive tax deduction twice from the Inland Revenue Board (IRB) for the purpose of income tax computation for assessment year 2012 to 2017.