NOW that we have the benefit of hindsight regarding the recent hand-out of $10,000 to parents of every public school student, we can consider how we perhaps could have done better and in this context I wish to propose a system that is gaining popularity elsewhere, including North America to where our compatriots seem to be flocking in ever-increasing numbers.

Enough has already been said/written about the good intentions of the cash-grant scheme which, unfortunately, incurred some criticism because of the manner in which it was implemented; and more particularly, the indignities and personal suffering endured by the poor parents who had to line-up for unending hours in the blazing sun before they could have collected the cash.
There were also the innuendoes about the money being used for purposes that are not of direct benefit to the students and is in some cases being totally misused.
For all the reasons given above, I propose a more beneficiary-focused, less bureaucratic approach, which guarantees that the students themselves will directly benefit in more ways than one. My proposal is not ‘original,’ in that it is widely used in some developed countries: it simply involves our Government providing ‘breakfast’ at school for each registered and attending student.
As indicated above, this is done abroad; it is sometimes supplemented by businesses and voluntary, civic-minded organisations. It has the added advantage of improving regular student attendance, enhancing the health of the students and consequently their concentration and academic performance which, after all, is the raison d’etre for them attending school.

NOWRANG PERSAUD