FAMILIES in need of financial assistance to continue sending their students to school amid the coronavirus-induced economic crisis may now avail themselves of a lending program recently rolled out by the Land Bank of the Philippines (Landbank) benefiting those from preschool to college who plan to enroll this coming school year.

This education-friendly program, dubbed the Interim Students’ Loan for Tuition toward Upliftment of Education for the Development of the Youth (i-Study), will allow parents, guardians or benefactors of students in private schools to borrow an amount equivalent to one school year or two semesters—or up to P150,000 per student, according to a report by Lankbank president and chief executive officer Cecilia Borromeo.

Borromeo said the i-Study program was introduced by Landbank “in response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s call on the institution to support students during this time of crisis.”

Loans under the i-Study program, which cannot exceed P300,000 per eligible borrower, carry an affordable fixed interest rate of five percent per year.

Short-term loans payable within one year are available for pre-school, primary and secondary school students under the program, while term loans payable up to a maximum of three years, inclusive of a one-year grace period on the principal amount are available for tertiary level students.

“This program will not only help families who have kids they want to send to school, but will also assist private schools and downstream industries to sustain and continue their operations,” Borromeo said.

Duterte earlier assured parents that he will open Landbank to them to assist in continuing the education of their children even amid the economic woes triggered by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Before the i-Study program, Landbank also launched in May this year a lending program targeting private schools hit hard by the Covid-19 crisis.

An initial batch of over 60 private educational institutions have expressed interest in tapping Landbank’s Access to Academic Development to Empower the Masses towards Endless Opportunities lending program.

As of Aug. 19, the Landbank has approved the application under the Academe program of four institutions for loans with a combined amount of P330 million.

The P3 billion Academe program aims to extend credit to private high schools, private technical-vocational education training institutions, colleges and universities with the goal of encouraging students to enroll under a “study now, pay later” setup by allowing their parents to issue promissory notes for their academic fees.

These promissory notes will then be refinanced or rediscounted under the program, with schools allowed to borrow as much as 70 percent of the sub-promissory note per semester and subject.

However, schools can only borrow up to a certain maximum amount based on the net borrowing capacity of the institution.

This lending program is available until June 30, 2021. (PR)