-Minister Manickchand says

WITH a massive increase in the 2022 budget for the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant and uniform vouchers, which will see parents receiving $30,000 per child, Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, has noted that there will be monitoring and evaluation to ensure that the purpose of the investment is realised.

The money is to be used by parents to offset expenses associated with sending their children to school, thereby decreasing the number of dropouts.
However, there have been concerns that some parents are not using the money for its intended purpose.

Minister Manickchand noted that there will be some parents facing social constraints, which forces them to direct the money towards other household needs. However, the inclusion of other social safety nets in the budget are geared to assistance with such, she added.

The Education Ministry will be on the lookout for parents who are not spending the money on school supplies.

“The fact that we are putting parents back to work and we are giving them a better opportunity to send their children to school …that will help. However, in all of that there will be persons who need more forceful or firmer encouragement and we are prepared to do that…in the interest of the children we are serving,” Minister Manickchand noted.

Started in 2014 with $10,000 per child, the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant was cancelled the following year under the APNU+AFC government. It recommenced in the 2021 under the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C), and was increased to $15,000 per child, in addition to the $4,000 uniform voucher.

In the 2022 budget, the cash grant has been increased to $25,000 and the uniform voucher to $5,000.
The money is part of the Ministry of Education’s (MoE’s) direct assistance to address the issue of school dropout, particularly at a time when the development of the country’s human resource is pivotal to the growing oil and gas sector.

School dropout has been a serious issue over the years, and was exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic which began in March 2020, and saw the physical closure of schools.

By September 2021, at least 1,000 primary school pupils from the public school system had dropped out of school as a result of the pandemic. Additionally, over 500 Grade Six pupils did not turn up to write the 2021 National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA).

Meanwhile, according to statistics in the Education Sector Plan (ESP) 2021 – 2025, only 50 per cent of students who are enrolled in secondary schools remain until the final grade, with five regions falling below this national average.