The Ministry of Education will commence the distribution of the increased “Because We Care” cash grant for schoolchildren from July according to Minister Priya Manickchand.
Additionally, the Ministry will be extending its ongoing school textbook distribution programme to secondary school students.
Manickchand made the announcement yesterday while delivering remarks at the Department of Education – Georgetown awards for students from both Primary and Secondary Schools. The ceremony honoured students who performed outstandingly at the National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA), Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) and Caribbean Advanced Proficiency Examinations (CAPE) in 2021.
Manickchand said that the $30,000 cash grant will see parents being relieved of some of the financial burdens of preparing their children for school.
“We are giving from the government level, the most support, parents and students have ever seen in this country. In the last week of July, every single student, I was about to say every single public school student because that is what I am accustomed to saying but it’s no longer that, every single student in this country, nursery, primary and secondary will receive $30,000 as assistance to getting themselves outfitted,” she said.
The Minister added, “Those changes ought to see the significant output and less coming out of the pockets of families and if we are going to do this together, the ministries, the government, parents, teachers and students then surely we should be able to see better results.”
The increase in the grant was catered for in the 2022 budget. Initially, the grant was established in 2014 by the Donald Ramotar administration and saw students receiving $10,000. However, it was discontinued by the David Granger administration.
When President Irfaan Ali took office in August of 2020, the grant was reinstated, increased and extended to private schools as well. In 2021, every student received $19,000.
This year the ‘cash grant was increased from $19,000 to $25,0000 dollars, while the school uniform and supplies grant was increased from $4,000 to $5,000, bringing the total to $30,000.
Additionally, Manickchand said that the government will be extending its textbook distribution programme to cover Grades Seven to 13 students. The students will receive all Mathematics, English and Literature textbooks required, while efforts will be made over the next two years for all secondary school students to have all the textbooks needed.
The textbook distribution programme commenced in March of this year and saw primary school students receiving books to cover each core subject area, Mathematics, English Language, Science and Social Studies.
Parents are required to sign a contract promising to ensure that the books are well-kept and returned at the end of the school year. Failure to return the books will result in children being unable to receive other books in other grades to take home and even unable to benefit from the “Because We Care” cash grant for the new school year.