PUTRAJAYA, March 17 — Higher Education Minister Datuk Seri Zambry Abdul Kadir said his ministry is adopting a broader strategy to encourage repayment among National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) borrowers, rather than relying solely on a “travel ban”.

He said various approaches are being implemented to ensure borrowers repay their loans.

“This includes certain agents informing borrowers, and in addition, letters have also been sent out. A total of 2.1 million letters have been issued to notify borrowers about repayment,” he told reporters after attending the Ihya’ Ramadan programme with Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and staff from his ministry here today.

“We do not consider the travel ban as the only method. I want to emphasise here that we are looking at the overall picture, considering the factors that enable us to collect repayments from the loans they have taken,” he added.

Last week, Deputy Higher Education Minister Datuk Mustapha Sakmud told the Dewan Negara that the government is considering reinstating the overseas travel ban for PTPTN defaulters, which was lifted seven years ago.

As of December 31 last year, only 1,044,595 borrowers out of 4,108,625 have fully repaid their loans.