41,501 univ students to get interest-free loans to buy smartphones

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has decided to provide interest-free loans of Taka 8,000 each to 41,501 students to buy smartphones to facilitate online education.

Insolvent students of 39 public and autonomous universities of the country would get the loan.

The students would be able to pay the loan in four installments or at a time, a meeting of UGC took the decision on Wednesday.

UGC chairman Kazi Shahidullah presided over the meeting.

Universities started to take online classes from July as educational institutes are closed due to the coronavirus situation.

It is learnt that a big portion of students cannot attend online classes due to unavailability of smartphone devices and financial resources to buy internet packages.

The UGC then decided to provide indigent students resources to purchase smartphones and internet packages to facilitate online classes. Universities then provided a list of students who need assistance.

UGC sources said, a total of 8,556 students of Dhaka University are on the list which is around 20 per cent of the students.