MANILA, Philippines — The government will be offering loans for tuition up to P100,000 by September, Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez III announced Wednesday.
In a pre-State of the Nation Address forum, Dominguez said the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) will offer a loan program of up to P100,000 to a qualified borrower.
“The GSIS will launch in September an educational loan program for its members to help pay for tuition and other school fees of their nominated student beneficiaries,” Dominguez said.
“The maximum loan amount that can be taken out by a borrower for a given academic school year is P100,000. This will be payable after five years from initial loan take out,” he explained.
Dominguez added that the GSIS will also be offering a P30,000 loan to its members for the purchase of personal computers needed in distance learning brought by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) health crisis.
“Next month, GSIS will introduce a new P30,000 computer loan program to its active members to help them purchase a laptop or desktop in light of the new normal of holding distance or online school classes,” Dominguez said.
“The loan is payable in three years at six percent interest per annum interest rate,” he added.
The Department of Education said it will postpone face-to-face classes until a vaccine against COVID-19 becomes available.
The school year is set to open on August 24.