Policy credit fuels learning aspirations

Lesson 2 — Le Thi Thao Van and Le Thi Thao Giang on their university graduation day. Photo: VAN GIANG

"Midwife" of preferential loans

On the morning of September 9, Mr. Le Ba Truong (Phu Trung block, Quang Phu ward) went to the policy credit transaction point in the ward to periodically pay off his debt after borrowing more than 70 million VND from the Social Policy Bank (CSXH) Quang Nam branch (now the Transaction Office of CSXH Bank Quang Nam) to take care of his twin daughters, Le Thi Thao Van and Le Thi Thao Giang, going to university.

Mr. Truong recalls that in 2020, Van and Giang both had enough points to pass many universities but could not attend lectures because... they did not have money to pay for tuition. At that time, Mr. Truong's two children had to temporarily put their dreams on hold to go to work as factory workers.

In 2021, Van and Giang were able to study preschool education at Quang Nam University thanks to the loan from the Social Policy Bank, Quang Nam branch. After 4 years of study, Van and Giang both graduated with honors.

Currently, both of them are temporarily teaching at kindergartens in Ban Thach ward and plan to pursue a master's degree so they can return to Quang Nam University to work as teaching assistants and continue their studies to become lecturers.

Mr. Truong said that in 2020, his family made a living by doing small business and did not have enough money to send their children to university. Through many information channels, Mr. Truong went to the policy bank and was advised to borrow money from the student program to pay for his children's education.

“Along with preferential loans, we worked hard at many jobs to earn extra income to take care of our two children. Up to now, we are very happy that our two children have graduated from university, creating money to move forward in life,” said Mr. Truong.

study — Le Thi Thao Van and Le Thi Thao Giang with their parents on the day they received the 24th Phan Chau Trinh Award in 2025. Photo: VAN GIANG

Managing policy credit activities in the wards of Quang Phu, Tam Ky, Ban Thach, Huong Tra and Tam Xuan commune, up to now, the Transaction Office of the Bank for Social Policies of Quang Nam has outstanding loans for student programs of nearly 63 billion VND.

Of which, loans for poor households' students are 530 million VND, near-poor households are nearly 1.5 billion VND, households with sudden difficulties are nearly 61 billion VND, orphaned students are 15 million VND and households with a maximum income equal to 150% of poor households are 171 million VND.

In general, in the city, as of September 8, the total outstanding loan balance for students reached more than 632.4 billion VND with 13,209 borrowers.

Mr. Hoang Thanh Lan, Deputy Director of the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, Da Nang City Branch, said: “The process of reviewing, appraising, and disbursing capital for the student loan program is carried out transparently and accurately, so that no one who is qualified cannot borrow capital. Policy credit contributes to nurturing the desire to study for students.”

Humanitarian policy

Student loans are very humane and practical. The preferential interest rate is only 0.55%/month and does not require collateral, does not charge application fees, has a long loan term, and has a grace period for students to start paying off their debt after graduation. That is the basis for poor families to boldly borrow money to support their children's education.

Lesson 3 — The Transaction Office of the Bank for Social Policies of Quang Nam implements loans for students in the 2025 - 2026 school year. Photo: QUANG VIET

Ms. Nguyen Thi My, Director of the Transaction Office of the Social Policy Bank of Hoi An, said that in the 2024-2025 school year, the transaction office disbursed loans to 156 students with a total amount of nearly 13.4 billion VND.

Up to now, the total number of students who have received loans at the transaction office is 816 with a total outstanding debt of more than 48.3 billion VND. The unit focuses on promoting the student loan program to each household.

Bank staff, together with the youth union, women's union, farmers' union, and veterans, visited each household to advise families and students on study costs and provide full guidance on loan procedures and repayment of principal and interest.

Thanks to that, people have access to preferential loans for their children to go to school and know their rights and responsibilities. “The loan capital from the student program has helped many households reduce their worries about living and studying expenses for their children. At the same time, it has given them the strength to pursue their dreams of studying, establishing themselves, starting a career, and building a future,” said Ms. My.

Student loans have removed financial barriers in education. Mr. Doan Ngoc Chung, acting director of the Social Policy Bank, Da Nang branch, said that the branch has always been a companion to students from poor families.

Effectively implementing student loans is the policy bank’s way of affirming that no one is left behind just because of lack of funding for education. It is also a way to contribute to sowing the seeds of knowledge so that society will have more and more intellectuals to contribute to the development of the homeland and the country in the future.

The Vietnam Bank for Social Policies, Da Nang City Branch, is implementing preferential credit for students, master's students and postgraduates in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM), contributing to improving the quality of human resources for national science, technology and innovation development.

Accordingly, first-year students must meet one of two criteria: 3 years of high school with good academic performance or above or an average grade of 8 or above in the 12th grade in Math, Physics, Chemistry, Biology. For second-year students, the average academic results of all subjects must be excellent or above in the school year immediately preceding the loan application.

Master’s and PhD students need to have a decision to recognize them as students or PhD students from a higher education institution according to the law. Students can borrow up to 15 million VND/month (10 million VND for tuition and 5 million VND for living expenses and other study costs).

Source: https://baodanang.vn/tin-dung-chinh-sach-tiep-suc-khat-vong-hoc-tap-3301556.html