Clinical Prof. Niwes Nanthachit, President of Chiang Mai University, has stated that COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on the economy, livelihood, and jobs and that CMU is well aware of the consequences that students and parents are facing. After a meeting with executives from all University sectors, 465 million baht has been allocated to measures aimed at alleviating the impact, which will be implemented through various channels.
To ease the financial burden, the University has provided a 10 percent discount on tuition and accommodation fees for all undergraduate and postgraduate programmes for the first semester of the 2021 academic year, amounting to 140 million baht.
Moreover, scholarships provided by the University and individual faculties worth 100 million baht have been prepared. Students can contact the Scholarship and Well-being Promotion Section, Student Development Division, and their affiliated faculties for more information. In addition, 209 million baht has been allocated to the Alleviation Fund for Students, providing support in the form of grants and loans. Students on the Student Loan Fund and those with other necessities are entitled to leniency or postponement of tuition fee payment.
In terms of teaching support, since effective teaching has been the University’s priority even during the pandemic, CMU is offering 40,000 free SIM cards worth 16 million baht to all students to maximise the effectiveness of online learning. Students can also borrow one of 950 laptops provided by the school. The EZ Studio equipment for creating online materials and Zoom licenses have been provided to help lecturers prepare and manage their online classrooms.
In his concluding remarks, the CMU President said, ‘Please have confidence that the University will take care of all students to help them get through the pandemic so that in the future they will become a driving force for the family and the society. I would like to offer my support to everyone to overcome this crisis together.’