Poe hopes for friendly, simple guidelines on Land Bank loan to buy gadgets for online learning

Senator Grace Poe on Thursday hoped for friendly and simple guidelines as she encouraged students needing electronic gadgets for their online classes to avail of the loan program offered by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP).

This, after LBP expanded its direct loan program for students to lend up to P50,000 for the purchase of electronic gadgets such as laptops, desktops, or tablets needed for online learning.

“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,” said Poe, who chairs the Senate committees on banks and on public services.

The senator is hoping that the guidelines and implementation of the loan program will be friendly and simple, especially to poor families.

“The less complicated the processes are, the higher the likelihood we can draw more interest into this program,” she said.

According to the LBP, the expanded program can be included in the maximum loanable amount of P150,000 per student or P300,000 per parent-borrower to cover payment for tuition or enrollment-related fees under the Interim Students' Loan for Tuitions towards Upliftment of Education for the Development of the Youth (I-STUDY) Program.

"LandBank recognizes the need to support students in adapting to distance learning modalities," said LBP president and chief executive officer Cecilia Borromeo.

"While we await the resumption of in-person classes, we hope that the I-STUDY Program can help students cover the financial requirements to purchases needed learning equipment and participate in online classes," she added.

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced students to depend on smartphones and tablets as classes transitioned to online, Poe said.

With this, Internet access has become more essential than ever in order for students to be able to keep with their lessons.

The senator stressed that fast and reliable Internet connection is needed to make full use of any digital device for online learning.

"A laptop, tablet or smartphone will only be useful tools to the students during online classes if they can connect to the internet,” she said.

“Telcos should also step up so that connectivity will not continue to be a stumbling block to our children’s education,” she added.—AOL, GMA News