President Irfaan Ali extends Because We Care cash grant to private schools

President Irfaan Ali on Thursday granted approval for the Because We Care cash grant programme to be extended to the parents of children attending private schools.

At the time the initiative was first announced, it was applicable to parents of children attending schools in the public school system only.

Since then, a number of parents of children attending private schools have expressed strong support for the programme and a strong desire for the programme to be extended to the private school system.

The decision to extend the programme to private schools will see an additional $320 million distributed to the parents of some 17,000 children.

This is on top of the $3.3 billion already distributed to the parents of the more than 175,000 students attending public schools.

Under the Because We Care programme, cash grants totalling $19,000 are given to the parents of each child attending school, to provide support to parents in procuring school supplies.

The programme enjoys widespread popularity, but was discontinued by the APNU/AFC while they were in office. It has since been reinstated by the PPP/C upon our return to office and the amount of the grants increased to a total of $19,000 per student.

President Ali has issued instructions for work to commence immediately to make the payout to all eligible parents.