THE Ministry of Education will, today, begin the distribution of the $40,000 ‘Because We Care’ cash grant to parents in all 11 education districts.

Education Minister, Priya Manickchand, had announced, last week, that over 214,000 children from public and private schools will benefit from the annual cash grant which includes the school uniform and supplies voucher.

“As you know we promised that we would give every family financial assistance every year. This year, that sum is $40,000 per child,” Manickchand said during a live broadcast.

This amounts to some $8.6 billion in disposable income being made available to families nationwide.

Every public and private school child from nursery one to Grade 10, who is on a school’s register and is attending school is eligible to receive the grant.

Children entering nursery school this year must have been registered by April to be eligible.

Meanwhile, students who will be entering grades 12 and 13 in the new school year will receive their grants in October upon completion of their registration.

Persons can uplift the cash grant from their children’s school or from the cluster where the school is located.

If parents or guardians are unable to uplift their grants on the scheduled date, they can visit their respective regional education office to uplift the grant at a time that is convenient to them.

Additionally, persons can authorise a third party to uplift the grant on their behalf, if they are unable to do so themselves.

Persons are reminded to walk with the relevant identification documents, which include either a national identification card (ID) or a passport.

If a person cannot present a valid form of ID, one can provide a verification letter that has been verified by the school’s principal, village leader or Toshao.
The distribution exercises will be conducted under the watchful eyes of the Auditor General’s office.

This year, $94.4 billion was allocated to the sector to further boost access to quality education.

The government has made significant progress in the last three years, proving its dedication to guaranteeing Guyanese have access to educational opportunities at every level.