Two students study online via a smart phone. The Ministry of Finance has proposed to support poor students to buy computers for online learning. —VNA/VNS Photo

 HÀ NỘI — The Ministry of Finance has proposed to the Government a credit package to support poor pupils and students in buying computers and equipment for online learning amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

Under the proposal, students from poor and near-poor families as well as those facing difficulties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including students whose fathers or mothers died of the disease, will be able to get loans to buy computers under the “computers and Internet services for children” programme.

According to the ministry, eligible students are those who have no computers or 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 to the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies for approval.

The maximum value of the loans will be VNĐ7 million (US$307) per student, according to the proposal, which estimates the total capital for the scheme at about VNĐ3.5 trillion ($153.86 million). The duration of the loans is under one year with a zero per cent interest rate.

The scheme will be conducted right after the Prime Minister approves it until March 31, 2022.

Initially, resources for the scheme will come from the VNĐ7.5 trillion credit package that is being implemented by the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, which was designed for employers to borrow to pay salaries for their employees but received few requests. — VNS