Govt gives teachers grant for classroom supplies

For the first time, teachers will have more freedom to prepare and manage their classrooms by being assisted in procuring the required janitorial, field, and office supplies as they see fit.

This was made possible through the commencement of the distribution of the school grant programme by Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand in Region Three on Friday.

Through the programme, teachers will be given $4,000 per child on the Coastland, while $5,500 will be provided for each child in the Hinterland regions.

The grants will be provided to the schools per term for preparation of the classroom.

Minister Manickchand emphasised that a list will be supplied to teachers which will direct teachers’ purchases to ensure a transparent process while urging them to make creative use of the grant.

The education minister noted that the grant’s implementation aims to better equip teachers to deliver the curriculum to produce noteworthy results.

“This has never been done before. We are very glad to be able to do this. Teachers are going to have a wider latitude about what they buy…And while we are providing lists of what can be bought, we know those are not exhaustive. Because if we have innovative teachers, which is what we want, then I expect to see other things added to that list,” Minister Manickchand highlighted.

Minister Manickchand handed over a $1 million grant to Windsor Forest Primary, while

Den Amstel Nursery and Primary Schools each received grants worth $224,000.

Minister Manickchand also met with headteachers and teachers from various schools at the Department of Education, Goed Fortuin Primary and Meten-Meer-Zorg Primary Schools, where more grants were distributed.  

Teachers’ reaction

Several teachers commended this initiative of the ministry with the provision of the grant, as it will significantly help them.

Graduate Senior Assistant Mistress at Meten-Meer-Zorg Primary, Dooranie Singh expressed that the grant is ‘like a dream come true for us here.’

Singh added, “We would not have to go into our pockets to buy learning materials and other stuff that would make learning essential for the children. I know that this is a great initiative for us and the learners will benefit tremendously from this.”

Headteacher of Den Amstel Primary, Melicia Murray-Chung, who welcomed the grant, noted, “I can recall in the previous times that we would have had this sum of money for just one year…”

But with the grant that will be provided for each term, she said, “This gives us more spending power and getting more items to make our school a little bit more child-friendly.”

Teacher of Meten-Meer-Zorg Primary, Shivanie Jairam stated that the grant will help many children in her classroom.

Meanwhile, a teacher of Den Amstel Nursery, Tabitha Jagbir highlighted that the initiative is extremely amazing, “at least the children from the school will be benefitting from this initiative. They will more comfortable and everything will go in a smooth flow.”

Another teacher of Meten-Meer-Zorg Primary, Dave Singh and his colleagues were overjoyed with the provision of the grant.

Singh pointed out, “because this was long coming. We are very thankful to the ministry for this. It will help us to get most of the stuff we need for a better deliverance of the curriculum.”

Headteacher of Goed Fortuin Primary, Bibi Nickram underlined, “We are elated to have this initiative in our school. We are more elated that minister chose to visit our school personally to do this handing over…Anybody coming after now to Goed Fortuin Primary, it will be bigger and better.”

Schools that have less than 56 students will receive $224,000.