Nursery, Primary and Secondary School students began receiving school uniform vouchers yesterday, the Government Information Agency (GINA) reported.
The $500M commitment to provide school uniforms for 200,000 students was made by President Bharrat Jagdeo in his 2010 Independence Day message. He had said that government would spend $1.1B this year to ensure every child receives a uniform and a basic meal.
Minister of Education, Shaik Baksh visited the BV Quamina Primary School, on the East Coast of Demerara, St. Margaret’s and the Winfer Gardens Primary schools in Georgetown; to ensure that the distribution process is on-going and spent some time with the participants of the ministry’s remedial programme, which began on Monday, GINA reported. He said that the provision of the vouchers assists parents in obtaining school uniforms for their children and increases enrollment and students’ attendance.
Parents have until September 15 to cash their vouchers at designated stores, including, Ravina International, Alim Shah, Rayon House of Fashion, Guyana Stores, William Fogarty’s, Keishar’s, Giftland Office Max, Dhanmattie Heerall, in Diamond Housing Scheme, and New Era Book Shop in Gafoors Shopping Mall.
Those students leaving primary school would receive their vouchers from the secondary school they would be attending and those leaving the nursery school would receive from the primary school they would be attending, GINA said. The school uniform project was introduced in 2003 to boost school attendance in rural, riverain and hinterland communities and since then it has expanded to accommodate every school-aged child countrywide.
The administration has been making significant contributions towards the improvement of the education sector. These contributions facilitate the ministry’s countrywide feeding programme, the provision of school uniforms, text books and the facilitation of remedial programmes for primary and secondary school students, GINA said.
