As the Loden Foundation marked its 25th foundation day today, it unveiled new initiatives including a short-term education loan scheme, culture web source development, and a declaration of enterprise scale-up fund. Through the initiative, the foundation reaffirmed its commitment to another 25 years and beyond of impactful service. The Loden Foundation is a registered civil society organisation established in 1999 to foster a happy society through the promotion of education, social entrepreneurship, and culture and tradition.
During the celebration, the foundation also revealed its revamped website. The website will have AI integration and will be able to take live feedback from people.
Unlike in the past, the new website will enable online applications for scholarships, education loans, and entrepreneur grants.
Donations to the Loden Foundation can also be made on the new website.
“So, all these websites that are under the Loden Foundation will be integrated. When it comes to the new education loan, we provide the loan per semester or the academic year without collateral and it is interest-free,” said Jigme Wangchuk D, the executive director of Loden Foundation.
The short-term education loan scheme amounting to Nu 300,000 per academic year, launched today, is meant for people who cannot get loans for higher education. It is a collateral and interest-free loan.
Similarly, the Declaration of Enterprise Scale-up Fund, a part of the Loden Entrepreneurship Programme, will provide further financial support to Loden entrepreneurs who cannot get loans from the banks.
Currently, the Loden Entrepreneurship Loan gives up to Nu 1.5 M to entrepreneurs.
The foundation also launched the Culture Web Source Development, which will have open access to various photographic archives, digitised manuscripts, and recorded oral cultures among others.
“We have that intangible cultural heritage. So, to provide access to all the information to the public, as well as to researchers, the Loden Culture Website has been launched.”
To date, the Loden Foundation has helped more than 200 children from low-income families, overseen over 800 graduations from its five early learning centres, and granted nearly 100 youth scholarships.
Tenzin Loday Gyeltshen
Edited by Sonam Pem
