Higher Education Minister Khaled Nordin said today that the resumption of Higher Education Loan Funds to Selangor-owned tertiary education institutions was sparked by the Selangor government's failure to find a permanent solution for providing free education.

NONE Noting that the state government had mooted selling off Universiti Selangor's (Unisel) assets to assist its students following the loan freeze, Khaled ( right ) said it was merely temporary and never a solution.

"The dissolving of assets was not for free education or fee subsidy, it was merely temporary assistance for the students," he said in a twitter posting today.

He added that despite Pakatan Rakyat's call for PTPTN to be abolished, Unisel had appealed to him for the loan to be unfrozen as it was needed by its students.

"Unisel had appealed, stating how important PTPTN was for its students, I cannot agree more, PTPTN should be given to their students," he said.

This, he said, prompted his ministry to reverse the freeze decision, allowing students enrolling in the university to resume their loans.

Khaled had initially said the freeze was intended to test whether Pakatan Rakyat was committed to free education.

"The opposition acknowledged the importance of PTPTN, free education is just a mere promise," he Tweeted.