(FILE) Parent Pearly Diño and daughter Ashlee, 9 years old, grade 4 student, participate in the on-line learning simulation in Navotas City on Wednesday, August 5, as the Department of Education shifts to distance learning platform for public schools due to the public health threat of the coronavirus.-INQUIRER/GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE
MANILA, Philippines – The loan program being offered by the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) will give students the opportunity to have a “better shot” at online learning especially at this time of the pandemic, Senator Grace Poe said Thursday.
“For many families, the leap to digital has become prohibitively expensive. We must enable them to obtain devices as an investment for their children’s education,” Poe, who heads the Senate banks and currencies panel, said in a statement as she urged students to avail the state-run bank’s loan program.
However, she also urged the Landbank to make the loan program’s guidelines and implementation “friendly and simple,” most especially for poor families.
“The less complicated the processes are, the higher the likelihood we can draw more interest into this program,” she stressed.
Aside from urging students to avail themselves of the loan program, Poe also urged telecommunication (telcos) companies to “step up” on their internet connection.
“A laptop, tablet, or smartphone will only be useful tools to the students during online classes if they can connect to the internet,” the senator, who is also the Senate public services committee chair, said.
“Telcos should also step up so that connectivity will not continue to be a stumbling block to our children’s education,” she added.
On Wednesday, Landbank said its loan program, the “Interim Students’ loan for Tuition toward Upliftment of education for the Development of the Youth” (I-Study), has been expanded so students can buy electronic gadgets for online classes.
Under the loan program, P50,000 will be made available for students for the purchase of desktops, laptops or tablets to be used for online learning.
The amount will be part of the maximum loanable amount of P150,000 per student or P300,000 per parent-borrower to cover payment for tuition or enrollment-related fees, Landbank said.