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The New Zealand government announced on Tuesday an immediate student support package in response to COVID-19, which aims to assist students financially to continue their studies.
"COVID-19 is impacting students' ability to financially contribute to and continue their studies. They are facing additional personal costs associated with study in a different way while having fewer opportunities to work to support their study," Education Minister Chris Hipkins said in a statement.
"The government wants to give certainty to students as soon as possible that they can continue to be engaged in their education and will be supported adequately until such time that tertiary education providers can put in place alternative ways of delivering teaching and learning," Hipkins said.
The domestic tertiary student package, which does not cover overseas students, helps cover extra costs, by increasing the student loan amount available for course-related costs for full-time students from 1,000 to 2,000 New Zealand dollars (610 to 1,220 U.S. dollars), on a temporary basis.
The package continues to support payments for students unable to study on-line for up to eight weeks.
Domestic students who are enrolled in full-time tertiary study can access these supports from Wednesday, the education minister said.
These measures, coupled with the support provided by the Ministry of Social Development, will provide an immediate response to the financial impact COVID-19 is having on tertiary students. It will support students to stay engaged in their education, he said.
The cost of the package is 35 million New Zealand dollars (21 million U.S. dollars) in operating funding and 98 million New Zealand dollars (59 million U.S. dollars) in capital expenditure, he added.
(CGTN)