Landbank is rolling out its student gadget loan program which allows qualified students to take out personal loans to purchase gadgets for online learning purposes. The program comes from an expanded Interim Students’ Loan for Tuitions towards Upliftment of Education for the Development of the Youth or I-STUDY Program, which allows any student of legal age to apply for a loan of up to Php 50,000. The government-ran Landbank announced this addendum to their program because it only allowed parents and guardians to apply for the loan when it was launched last year.

The expansion of this program comes after the government continued its push for remote schooling. According to Landbank “a loan of up to Php 50,000 per student is allotted to finance the purchase of learning gadgets such as laptop, desktop or tablet, that 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 enrolment-related fees.”

The program has also increased the maximum age eligibility of students to 50 years old from the original 30 years old age limit. Non-scholar private school students in pre-school, primary, and secondary levels as well as scholars whose scholarships do not fully cover tuition fees are eligible to apply for the extended I-STUDY loan.

The Landbank student gadget loan offers a fixed rate of 5% per annum for short-term loans that are payable within one year. For tertiary students, terms include loans that are payable to a maximum of three tears, inclusive of one year grace period on the principal.

“LANDBANK recognizes the need to support students in adapting to distance learning modalities. While we await the resumption of in-person classes, we hope that the I-STUDY Program can help students cover the financial requirements to purchase needed learning equipment and participate in online classes,”  said LANDBANK President and CEO Cecilia C. Borromeo said in a statement.

LANDBANK is joining other companies to help struggling students cope with distance learning requirements brought upon by the COVID-19 pandemic.

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