Dear Editor,
As our current government is reviewing the award of $10,000 cash payment to the parents of schoolchildren that was initiated by our previous government just before the last general election, I wish to take this opportunity to repeat a suggestion I made previously.
Instead of making cash payments to all parents irrespective of their financial and other circumstances, it would be better to provide a good breakfast meal to all children who attend school.
Such a programme will encourage all children, especially those who are often deprived of the essential breakfast meal, to attend school regularly as well as to improve their health and concentration during classes.
Thus the money spent by the government will go more directly to the intended beneficiaries, ie, the children, as opposed to the several known and reported cases of abuse of the cash grant by some parents who are tempted to use the money for purposes other than that for which it was intended.
Yours faithfully,
Nowrang Persaud
