Students, who owe the National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN), must respond within 14 days upon receiving a notice of reminder or face legal action, warned Higher Education Minister Dr Shafie Mohd Salled today.

He added that the notices are in the process of being distributed.

"We have decided to take a group of 200 students who received the previous reminder notices to court this April.

"Therefore, students who receive the notices this time around are advised to respond in the stipulated period or we'll take them to court," he was quoted as saying by Bernama .

Shafie said that it involves some 140,000 students from the 190,000 who have completed their tertiary education.

"The amount that needs to be collected is RM420 million but only RM93 million has been collected from some 32,000 active payers, while 20,000 more have been allowed to defer their payment," he added.

He explained that the deferment was based on several factors such as unemployment while there were those who are furthering their studies.

Lower rates

The minister said PTPTN, since its establishment in 1997 till last year, has given out loans amounting to RM7.2 billion.

Meanwhile, Shafie said PTPTN will restructure the repayment scheme for students who are working but unable to meet the rates set by the corporation due to low income.

"For those who are unemployed, we will discuss this at the cabinet (meeting) tomorrow," he added.

On the sending of reminder notices, the minister said they are sent based on the addresses stated on the application forms.

Yesterday, Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi had instructed PTPTN to ensure that students who received loans, pay back.