Two teens are currently in police custody after allegedly stealing over $200,000 in cash intended for a school’s feeding programme in Shulinab, South Central Rupununi.
Although the police yesterday announced that a sum of $408,000 was stolen from a school in Lethem, Ian Lewis, the headmaster of the Makushi Primary, which is located at Shulinab, told Stabroek News that the break-in actually occurred at the building behind the school.
According to Lewis, around midnight on Thursday, the teens broke a wooden window in order to gain access to the building, which is used for the school’s “hot meals” programme. The thieves managed to escape with $278,872, which is used to facilitate the programme. However, they were later apprehended by the police and the cash has since been recovered.
According to the Ministry of Education’s website, the feeding programme falls under the ‘National School Feeding programme’ which was launched in February 2010.
The programme seeks to promote regular school attendance by providing students with a “hot meal” and it has been implemented in nursery and primary schools nationwide.
