【明報專訊】STUDENTS who have taken out a loan from the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency (WFSFAA) to support their studies have a moral obligation to repay the loan after they have graduated and started a job. However, over the years, payment defaults have been common among students. Some have done so deliberately, taking advantage of the authorities' feeble debt recovery efforts, which are often a complicated process that involves high administrative costs but produces inconclusive results. The Office of The Ombudsman has suggested transferring a "blacklist" of delinquent borrowers to credit reference agencies so as to increase the deterrent effect and prompt students to fulfil their financial obligations. The government should adopt this suggestion. If even this measure fails to bear fruit, the authorities should study whether it is possible to discourage payment defaults by making them a criminal offence under certain circumstances.