Manickchand given three weeks to announce method for $10,000 initiative

May 23, 2014 News

Education Minister Priya Manickchand has requested three weeks to divulge exactly how the promised $10,000 per child will be distributed and when.
Manickchand made the disclosure on Wednesday last in response to a question posed by her shadow counterpart in the National Assembly, A Partnership for National Unity (APNU)’s, Amna Ally.

Education Minister Priya Manickchand

The Minister disclosed that there are 188,000 students in the public school system spread across the country and as such Government was looking to find a mechanism that would see transparency and accountability in the disbursement of the money to parents across the 10 regions.
Ally in posing her question to Manickchand in the House drew reference to the 2014 Budget presentation, when Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh proposed that $10,000 would be given to each school child.
The Finance Minister said during his presentation that in an effort to give additional support to parents of school aged children, “Government will provide a cash grant to the parents of every child attending nursery, primary or secondary school in the public education system in the amount of $10,000 per child for the year 2014.”
The APNU Member of Parliament indicated to the House that she had spoken to the Minister on the telephone and Manickchand had requested a three-week deferral in providing a response to the question, to which Ally acquiesced.
Ally told the House that the Minister is “challenged” to provide an answer at present, hence the need for a deferral.
Manickchand told the House that she initiated the telephone conversation with Ally. She explained that the challenge faced, relates to the number of students across the country “and for us to reach all efficiently, and in a manner that would be transparent and accountable, we would like some time to examine all the possible facilities that are available to us in government, working with private partners to be able to do this.”
Manickchand sought to assure the House that “once we know what would be best, given consultations with the private sector and in conversation with parents, I would be happy to share that immediately.”
She said that this information would be shared even if it means before coming back to the House.
The Education Minister assured that “we are presently working on ensuring that we provide this benefit.”
The $10,000 per school child initiative has been lauded by many in civil society.