The Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) has obtained court orders on 69,573 defaulters, as of October this year.    

The figure is part of the 104,083 students who have been issued summonses for defaulting on their loans, said PTPTN chairman Ismail Mohamad Said.  

"We had to resort to the court after the students failed to pay up despite our repeated reminders to do so," he said after an Excellent Students Awards ceremony at Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan Tamil Ladang Bee Yong, Kerdau, Pahang, today.

The Kuala Krau member of parliament said, PTPTN managed to recover only RM2.74 billion or 48.34 percent of its lending, which was RM6.2 billion, as of September.

Ismail noted that as a result of the Immigration Department's blacklisting 8,143 students finally paid up about RM146 million.   

However, he added the amount was still low as the blacklist numbered 132,801 who were barred from leaving the country.  

- Bernama