Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai has agreed with the Ministry of Finance’s proposal to help needy students buy computers and equipment for their online learning amid the Covid-19 pandemic.

Under the proposal, students from poor and near-poor families, those facing difficulties due to the pandemic, including students whose fathers or mothers died of the Covid-19 disease, will be enabled to get loans to buy computers under the support of the “Internet connection and computers for children” program.

A student of Kim Lien Primary School in Hanoi's Dong Da District is studying online. Photo: The Hanoi Times

The proposal suggests the maximum value of the loans will be VND7 million (US$307) per student, which estimates that the total capital for the scheme is about VND3.5 trillion (US$153.86 million). The duration of the loans is under one year with a zero percent interest rate.

Initially, the scheme will be financed by the VND7.5 trillion credit package that is being implemented by the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, which was designed to provide loans for employers to pay salaries for their employees but received few applications.

According to the ministry, eligible students are those who have no computer and equipment for online study and have not yet received any support in the field.

The People’s Committees of communes and wards are responsible to make and verify the lists of beneficiaries before submitting them to the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies for approval.

The Ministry of Finance expects that the scheme will run until March 31, 2022.

Deputy Prime Minister Le Minh Khai has assigned the Ministry of Labor, Invalids, and Social Affairs to coordinate with the Finance Ministry, the State Bank of Vietnam, and relevant agencies to work on supplementing the policy regarding the credit package.

In a move to support the online learning of disadvantaged students, the Vietnam Electricity Group (EVN)-Hanoi has launched a program on delivering 70 online learning devices worth VND500 million (US$ 21,934) in total to needy students in Hanoi’s eight districts of My Duc, Thuong Tin, Phu Xuyen, Thanh Oai, Ba Vi, Thanh Tri, Gia Lam, and Son Tay.

In a similar effort, the FPT group and Hope Fund will present 3,300 devices and software serving online learning to children in seven southern provinces including Can Tho, Dong Nai, Dong Thap, Tra Vinh, Tay Ninh, Ben Tre, and Ba Ria-Vung Tau this October.