-200,000 students to benefit overall
Across the regions, the school uniform distribution programme is nearing completion, with most schools in most areas reporting positive feedback on the programme’s use. The Ministry of Amerindian Affairs had indicated that schools in the Hinterland communities of Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine have been receiving uniform materials; and in the case of schools in the Upper Mazaruni, the distribution there is completed.
Last week, Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai and a team including Permanent Secretary Colin Croal and Region Seven Chairman Holbert Knights handed over the first batch of uniform materials and attendant items to the villages of Jawalla, Waramadong and Kako.
Women of the hinterland communities have undertaken to sew the uniforms for the students there, boosting their income by the stipend provided by the Amerindian Affairs Ministry.
On the coast, most of the regions have reported that across the board parents are taking advantage of the assistance provided by the government in the form of uniform vouchers.
Lorraine English, District Education Officer, Nursery, Region Two, said that the 74 schools in her region have collectively distributed more than 60 percent of the vouchers given to them. She explained that the difficulty now is reaching those parents who are nomadic workers, especially in the Pomeroon area.
Education Officials in Region Three told GINA yesterday that all their vouchers have been distributed. Reports there indicate that the schools have even begun returning outcome sheets to the Education Department.
Region Six’s Nursery Education Officer Bibi Ally is heartened by the response of the parents to the uniform distribution. Numbers from that region show that out of 30,163 vouchers, more than 25,000 have been uplifted across 141 schools.
In Region 10, 12,811 vouchers have been distributed to schools, according to District Education Officer Joan Monkhouse. She said that more than 60 schools across the region would have benefited from this initiative.
The School Uniform Distribution Programme was introduced by President Bharrat Jagdeo in 2003 as a way to boost school attendance, especially in rural, riverine and hinterland areas.
In his 2010 Independence message, His Excellency had indicated that government, in its commitment to ensure that no child was left behind, would spend $1.1B this year, so that every child receives a uniform and a basic meal. Ever since its inception, the School Uniform Distribution Programme has seen thousands of the nation’s students benefit from this relief and thus obtain a formal education.(GINA)