Many poor students are unable to pay off loans from the Vietnam Bank for Social Policies after graduation because they cannot find a job.

Nearly 2,000 students graduates from teachers’ training schools are unemployed 

Even those graduates, who have found jobs, have trouble settling their debts as they earn modest salaries.

The bank’s programme to provide loans for students was considered an important move to help students. After five years of the programme nearly 350,000 students in the Mekong Delta region have been provided with loans.

By the end of 2012, the total capital used for the loans has been estimated at VND36 trillion (USD1.71 billion). The average loan for a students is VND1.1 million (USD52.38).

However, to date, many graduates hold an outstanding loan after one or two years. This is mainly attributed to their low salaries and failure to find a job after graduation.

Graduating from Can Tho University one year ago, Pham Minh N. in Long Hau Commune, Lai Vung District, Dong Thap Province, has yet to find a job. His family is very poor so the settlement of the VND30-million debt depends on him.

According to the Statistics Department of Dong Thap Province, out of 44,752 local students who have been provided with bank loans worth VND550.541 billion (USD26.2 million), only VND42.57 billion had been paid back as of June 30, 2012.

According to the Social Policy Bank of Dong Thap Province’s Lai Vung District, by late September this year, 3,466 students’ families recieved loans totaling VND68 billion (USD3.2 million) from the bank. However, to date, only 241 students have settled their debts, totaling VND1.9 billion (USD90,476).

Most of the student debt is from those who graduated from vocational training schools or colleges.