The Ministry of Education will soon start the distribution of this year’s ‘Because We Care’ cash grant, which has been increased to $40,000 per child in school.
This was announced by Education Minister Priya Manickchand in a video-message post on her Facebook page.
According to Manickchand, the distribution exercise will start on June 5 and run until June 9, 2023.
“Next Monday, we begin to distribute to families across this country, financial assistance for their children’s schooling.”
This, the Education Minister noted is in keeping with the People’s Progressive Party/Civic Government’s commitment to Guyanese.
“As you know, we promised to give every family [with a child or children in school] financial assistance every year. This year, that sum is $40,000 per child… and not per family.”
This year, the cash grant has increased to $35,000; while the uniform voucher will be $5,000 thus totalling to $40,000 per school child.
More than 214, 000 children are eligible for the cash grant this year, Minister
Manickchand said.
The eligibility requirements for beneficiaries still stands as previous years, that is, children who attend either public or private schools from nursery level up to the CAPE level.
“Eligibility really means that you’re on the register of a public or private school and that you’re attending school, and we got your name from your school.”
For students who will be doing CAPE subjects, once they are registered and start those classes in September then they will receive their grants in October this year.
In the meanwhile, parents and guardians are being asked to pay attention to the school notices and the various social media platforms as well as the local press for details on the locations, timings and dates for uplifting the cash grants.
The Auditor General Office will be monitoring the distribution exercise.
Government has set aside some $8.6 billion in Budget 2023 for this initiative.
