THE PPP/C administration will soon commence disbursement of the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant to parents and guardians of students attending public schools. This is in keeping with a campaign promise by President Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali to restore the cash grant, which was terminated by the previous APNU+AFC administration.
This year the grant has been increased to $15,000 which, along with the School Uniform and Supplies Grant of $4000, will amount to $19,000 payable for each child in the public education system. Approximately 172, 000 students will benefit from the programme, bringing the overall cost to $3.2 billion, which will go directly towards children and their parents across the country.
The implications of such payments cannot be underestimated. There are many parents, especially those in the lower-income bracket, who are challenged financially to send their children to school, especially in cases where there are more than one children of school age. The initiative was implemented by the PPP/C administration with the aim of providing support to parents, thereby increasing their disposable incomes with a view to increasing school enrolment and attendance rates.
It would be recalled that the ‘Because We Care” programme was initiated by the previous PPP/C administration, but was discontinued by the David Granger administration after it took power in May 2015. As to why a government would want to bring such a programme to an end is puzzling, given the positive impact it had on attendance and enrolment rates. It does, however, speak to the degree of callousness and insensitivity by the previous APNU+AFC administration regarding the welfare and well-being of both students and parents.
Not only was the cash grant terminated by the previous administration, but it imposed the Value Added Tax (VAT) on private education institutions, which resulted in vigorous protest action from school administrators, parents and students.
Our parents and students need all the support they can get to ensure that their children benefit from the education opportunities offered by the government. Education is a key and critical factor, not only in terms of individual growth and development, but also in terms of national development. It is through education that the full potential of an individual can be developed and it is only through a sound and rounded education that young people can be fully integrated into society.
President Ali has repeatedly said that education is a top national priority as far as his administration is concerned and has pledged to remove all barriers to the access of quality education at all levels, from nursery to university. The President has already put in place his on-line tertiary-level education programme and he is on record as saying that he intends to do away with tuition fees at the University of Guyana. These are indeed commendable initiatives which will certainly pay dividends in terms of upgrading our human and social capital, so critical for national development.
President Ali and his PPP/C administration have demonstrated in a tangible way that when it comes to education it is prepared to make the necessary resources available to allow for the realisation of the full potential of our children and our young people. As one former PPP Shadow Minister of Education, during a debate in Parliament remarked to the PNC side of the House, “If education is too expensive, try ignorance.”
