This year each child was scheduled to receive $25,000 under the ‘Because We Care’ initiative. The schoolchildren’s uniform grant was also increased to $5,000, meaning that each child would get a total of $30,000.
And some 200,000 children, both in public and private schools, were targeted over the four-day distribution period (Phase One). Education Minister Priya Manickchand recently told the News Room that just over 10,000 cash grants were not collected.
This ‘Because We Care’ initiative was first instituted by the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) in 2014. After returning to office in 2020, the PPP/C administration reinstated the grant and promised to incrementally increase it until it gets to $50,000.
Minister Manickchand hinted previously that this sum could possibly increase beyond $50,000.
