Consider increasing the student loan limit to VND 1.35 million per month.

(Baonghean.vn) - The Government Office has issued document No. 9705/VPCP-KTTH announcing the directive of Deputy Prime Minister Vu Van Ninh regarding the implementation of Decision No. 157/2007/QD-TTg dated September 27, 2007, on credit for students.

Accordingly, the Deputy Prime Minister instructed the Ministry of Finance to consider and calculate the financial feasibility of adjusting the loan amount from VND 1,100,000/month/student to VND 1,350,000/month/student; and to report to the Prime Minister before November 27, 2015.

After nearly 9 years of implementation, the total capital of the program has reached over 25 trillion VND, adequately and promptly meeting the borrowing needs of eligible beneficiaries as stipulated; the total outstanding loan balance is nearly 25 trillion VND. The program has helped more than 3.2 million students borrow funds to cover their study expenses. Currently, there are still 1.1 million households with outstanding loans at the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, with 1.3 million students borrowing funds for their studies.

Students participate in activities at the community room in Vinh Trung residential area, Vinh city.

The program's goal is to "partially support living expenses," but since the majority of students borrowing funds are children from poor or disadvantaged families in provinces or rural areas who come to the city to study, in addition to tuition fees, they also have to cover costs for rent, transportation, and other living expenses, making it difficult for them.

Therefore, considering an increase in the loan amount for the student loan program is necessary, because in reality, since the program's implementation (September 2007), the loan amount has been adjusted several times. At the start of the program, the loan amount was 800,000 VND/month, and after nearly two years, on August 26, 2009, it was increased by 60,000 VND/month to 860,000 VND/month/student. From November 15, 2010, the Prime Minister decided to raise the maximum loan amount for students to 900,000 VND/month.

The student housing complex of Vinh University in Hung Binh ward is preparing to welcome students.

The most recent increase in the loan amount was on August 1, 2013, when the Prime Minister issued a decision raising the loan amount to 1.1 million VND/month/student.

According to the results of a survey conducted in several provinces and cities during the 2014-2015 school year, the cost of education for a student ranges from 3 million VND/month to 3.5 million VND/month (the cost for a rural student studying in the city is approximately 3.5 million VND/month). The current loan amount of 1.1 million VND/month only meets about 31.4% to 37% of the students' educational expenses.

In particular, recently, following the tuition fee increase roadmap, the Government issued Decree 86/2015/ND-CP on the mechanism for collecting and managing tuition fees. According to the tuition fee ceiling stipulated in the Decree, the average tuition fee could increase by approximately 10%.

Thanh Thuy