Reg. Two parents praise ‘Because We Care’ initiative

Parents in Region Two (Pomeroon-Supenaam) have lauded the PPP/C Government for fulfilling its promise to provide assistance to their children through the $15,000 ‘Because We Care’ cash grant.

Minister of Local Government and Regional Development, Nigel Dharamlall MP on Wednesday, accompanied Education Minister, Priya Manickchand MP and Minister of Natural Resources, Vickram Bharrat MP to the region to launch the programme. 

In addition to the $15,000, each public school child will get $4,000 through the school uniform and supplies cash grant, bringing the total to $19,000.

Phapel Boodhoo, a boat captain and father of six said the exercise is a blessing, since the COVID-19 pandemic has made it difficult for him to manage his household.

“Everything has slowed down drastically; jobs are hard to get. I am a boat captain who transport persons for tourism purposes and so because of the pandemic, things slowed down a lot. This (money) will be a great help for me as a father and even for our community,” he said.

Ashamonie Spencer also shared similar sentiments.

“I think that it is good and much appreciated, since I have five children so I need to get their supplies for school. My children do very well in school and so what the Government is doing right now is good as I see it as an investment in education.”

Gaffar Boodhoo said “this initiative is a very good initiative especially in this time of Covid, there is a lot of people who are not working. This is a wise idea by the Government to give the children $19,000 to purchase what they need.”

Another parent, Devika Karishnaan said she is happy to be able to receive the money since it would reduce some of her financial woes.

“It is a great help for us with the children going back to school since they will need things and during this pandemic it is very hard and so this is nice for us and our children.”

Minister Dharamlall told parents that the programme will ensure children receive the necessary resources to attend school. This approach, he said, will be coupled with other incentives which will benefit children across the country.

“This is a significant investment and as you know Region Two has great potential but it also has many challenges. For us, as a government, education is a priority because we believe that the greatest asset for anyone is their education and knowledge.

This year too, the Government will embark on massive infrastructure developments in the education sector in the region,” he said.

Minister Dharamlall urged parents to use the monies for the children. He also encouraged them to build a relationship with the teachers to ensure their children are being taught during the pandemic.

“As a Government, we have spent billions of dollars for teachers to ensure that they engage with every child during this time through various ways and so it is important that you, the parents build a relationship with your child’s respective teachers to do so.”

Both parents and teachers were encouraged to get vaccinated, to help stop the spread of COVID-19.

The Minister visited Suddie, Riverstown and Aurora Primary Schools. About $3.2 billion will go towards 172,000 students across the country through the programme. The Government has committed to increasing the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant each year to $50,000 over five years.