KUALA LUMPUR – Universiti Malaya’s (UM) “zero-balance policy” in its tuition fee collection only affects less than 4% of its students, said Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin (Kota Tinggi-BN).
Khaled said assuming the policy burdens the students as a whole was untrue, as it does not involve 96% of students, especially borrowers from the National Higher Education Fund Corp (PTPTN), government scholarship holders and those from the B40 income bracket.
“Contrarily, the policy will only affect about 3.97% of students – equivalent to 1,181 out of 29,733 students in total,” he said in a parliamentary written reply yesterday.
Khaled was responding to Datuk Seri Ronald Kiandee (Beluran-PN), who asked the ministry to state the objective and direction of the policy, which he said prevents students from the B40 group from continuing their studies.
Khaled said the university viewed the move as necessary, as certain students deliberately failed to pay their tuition fees, despite being able to do so.
This resulted in the total unpaid tuition fees by the students who can afford their education building up every year.
He said that the total debt in UM was recorded at RM51.2 million as of June this year, as compared to RM47.33 million in 2022, RM37.34 million (2021) and RM28.62 million (2020).
On top of that, the policy is introduced with good judgment and discretion, as it takes into account the students’ welfare in a rational and practical way, he added.
“This is because students who fail to pay their debts will not have action taken against them immediately. Instead, the policy targets those classified as hard debtors.”
The policy defines hard debtors as individuals who have financial obligations, but do not explain them to the university for two consecutive semesters, even after being given reminders.
However, Khaled explained that students under scholarships in the category may still register for upcoming semesters and attend their convocations, but must ensure that their sponsors settle the outstanding fees.
Previously, UM’s student union urged the university administration to abolish the newly implemented zero-balance policy, as it burdened the students – especially those from lower-income families.
The union said it would be impossible for most students to gather a large amount of money to pay their tuition fees in a short period of time, as their fees vary between RM1,000 and RM20,000.
It also said the policy was unreasonable as numerous students have not received their PTPTN allowance during the course registration period. – October 11, 2023