It should be no surprise that the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) has been depleted and the body now has to borrow RM2 billion from the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).

They have a zero balance after a few years and the head of the corporation can merely bleat that they have all kinds of challenges trying to recover the loans. However, they say they will publish a list of the most common and probable excuses no doubt so that future defaulters can save some time.

Borrowing from the EPF can create similar problems in the future unless better management is practised.

I suggest that future loan participants should have their loans debited from their EPF account; i.e. if you borrow RM20,000, you will have a negative balance of RM20,000 at prevailing EPF rates and as long as you enjoy EPF benefits from your employer, your loan will be repaid automatically.

This loan agreement with the EPF should include some clauses that loan recovery actions by the PTPTN fund will commence one year after the course ends if no repayments are made.

No need for future pitiful excuses. Come to think about it, we could even reduce some staff especially in the collection arm.

The other area that needs some study is the area in which loans are given - is there a reasonable distribution to study in fields that are relevant to society's needs?

If everyone decides to study astronomy and all the loans are approved, we are surely going to create a major pool of unemployed astronomers who cannot repay their loans.