Vouchers Help Needy Families Buy School Uniforms

The vouchers were awarded by the Needy Students Assistance Programme to low income families who qualified for assistance from the government.

Minister of Education & Human Resource Development, Honourable Anthony Boatswain, supervised the distribution of vouchers in his constituency at the St. Patrick’s Anglican School and explained some details of the voucher.

“For the needy students attending the primary school, it’s $100 per child. If you have two children going to school it will be $200; three $300. If you have four, five or six [children] it would still be $300. The maximum per family is $300,” Boatswain said.

Minister Boatswain also stressed the importance of using the voucher for its intended function.

“You cannot use the voucher for anything other than the uniform. We know in the past, because I have been involved with this programme before, where parents get the voucher and work out an arrangement with the store owner to take other things apart from the uniform. If that is done you are committing fraud and there are consequences associated with fraud,” Minister Boatswain said.

The assistance comes at an opportune time when dollars are stretched to their limits as families prepare to send their children back to school.

Parents and guardians who received vouchers expressed their gratitude to the Ministry of Education for the much needed help.

“I would like to say thanks because most of the parents that don’t have [money] to send their children to school are very thankful for it,”a Parent at the St. Patrick’s Anglican School said.

“I feel so proud about it, I’m so happy that they could help me and I just want to give God thanks and praise,” another voucher recipient said.

Purchases made with the vouchers are limited to uniform clothing and accessories such as: shirts, skirts, pants, ties, belts, vests, socks, shoes etc.

All vouchers must be redeemed at participating stores by 30 Sept 2013.