JOHOR BARU, Feb 21 — The National Higher Education Fund Corporation (PTPTN) encourages more state governments to provide the National Education Savings Scheme (SSPN-i) incentive to newborns.

PTPTN chief executive Ahmad Dasuki Abdul Majid said so far, only three states, namely Johor, Perak and Melaka had carried out such initiative.

He said in Johor, 350 babies had received a one-off aid of RM50 in the form of SSPN-i investment saving from the state government through Dana Didik Harapan Johor.

Dana Didik Harapan Johor is a state government initiative carried out by Yayasan Pelajaran Johor (YPJ) in collaboration with PTPTN, the state Health Department and the Johor National Registration Department.

Advertisement

“We call on other state governments to emulate this effort as babies are key assets for human capital development,” he told reporters after the Dana Didik Harapan Johor walkabout at the Sultan Ismail Hospital here today.

Present were PTPN deputy chief executive (Policy and Operation) Mastura Mohd Khalid and YPJ senior manager Mohamad Zeen Watak.

Ahmad Dasuki said the contribution to Dana Didik Harapan Johor initiative had also been increased to RM100 from RM50 in 2018 and last year, which could benefit 1000 newborns whose parents earning less than RM7,000.

Advertisement

“We encourage parents with newborns to apply for this incentive. The application form is available at all maternity wards of government hospitals in the state, YPJ, state PTPTN office and the state health department,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ahmad Dasuki said as of December 31 last year, the total funds deposited in SSPN-i was RM5.88 billion involving 4.39 million depositors. — Bernama