— Labour Minister tells parents

LABOUR Minister, Joseph Hamilton, launched the distribution of the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant at the Number Eight Secondary School and the Number 29 Primary School in Region Five on Tuesday. As the minister engaged the hundreds of parents that gathered, he stressed the importance of the cash grant that will see each child in the public school system receiving $15,000, coupled with the $4,000 school uniform and supplies voucher, which gives a total of $19,000 per child.
He highlighted that the cash grant programme was the brainchild of the government that saw students receiving $10,000 every year until 2015 when a new government took office. The minister

lamented that when the APNU+AFC Government took office in 2015 the programme was discontinued and saw many Guyanese students deprived of the much-needed funds.
On that note, Minister Hamilton boasted of the government’s plan to increase the cash grant over the next five years. According to the minister, the money given every year will increase until it reaches $50,000.

That was also said by the Chief Education Officer, Dr. Marcel Hutson, who sat alongside the minister at the Number 29 Primary School, where approximately 460 learners were to receive their cash grants. Dr. Hutson said that the distribution marks the beginning of the process to deliver on a promise made to the citizens of this country, and it will continue. In addition, he said the government was concerned with the delivery of education, which needed to occur through a holistic approach.
Also noted was the importance of parents’ level of involvement in the delivery of education to their children. According to the Chief Education Officer, it plays a vital role in creating an environment that will bolster their development. Meanwhile, Minister Hamilton warned the parents to refrain from using the cash grant as a “productive grant”, meaning that it must be spent on things that are necessary for their children’s academic journey amid the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and not for their own personal use.
In the coming days, the minister is expected to launch distributions at several other locations as the government continues to roll out its programme.