Gov’t to introduce student transportation grant next term – Jagdeo

Noting that the Government’s investments in the education sector are clearly bearing fruit, Vice President Bharrat Jagdeo assured that the Peoples Progressive Party Civic (PPP/C) administration will continue to prioritise the nation’s children and will move to introduce a student transportation grant initiative during its next term in office.

“We’ve already made university education free and other tertiary education free; we’re paying for the exams; we’re now going to assist with transportation for children through a grant in the next term so that we can remove the burden from the parents so they can get to school,” Jagdeo announced on Thursday.
The goal, he emphasised, is to lessen the burden on parents in educating their children.
“…whether your parents are poor or wealthy, you have opportunities for good quality education,” the vice president said, indicating that existing educational support programmes will be expanded and improved over the years.
These include the “Because We Care” cash grant, the school uniform grant and the school feeding programmes. He also pointed out that the Government has made tertiary education free and will be covering the costs associated with the secondary level CSEC and CAPE exams.
“The next thing is getting the child to school. We might not be able to cover all the costs, but we can give, maybe on an annual basis, a grant to the parents to offset transportation costs,” he noted.
This transportation grant initiative, he said, can be supported by state-run buses for certain communities. “There are lots of communities in the outlying area, like in the mines in Linden; the Government will buy a bus and give it to them… And then the communities utilise the bus. So, where that could be done, we will continue doing it,” he explained.
The Vice President pointed out that the Government’s investment in education is bearing fruit, and this is evident in this year’s National Grade Six Assessment (NGSA) results.
This year, students who wrote the examination recorded an overall pass rate of 63%, which is unprecedented in the history of the country.
“I am happy because the investments that we are making in the education sector will continue to provide our children with the opportunities to succeed in life,” he noted during his weekly press conference.
Jagdeo said investments in the sector have increased from $53 billion to $185 billion in the past five years.
Additionally, he said approximately 3,000 teachers were hired during this period.
Meanwhile, Jagdeo congratulated the pupils who wrote the NGSA, especially Tanasha Mayers of the Academy of Excellence, who achieved the perfect score.
Nevertheless, he noted that the other pupils must also be recognised for their hard work.
“I don’t want people to see those kids who did not do well as failures. Because this exam really is just an exam, because we’ve had limited space in the past, but in the future, all of the kids will go on to write CXC,” he emphasised.
VP Jagdeo also pointed out that over the years, the upgrading of secondary schools across the country has led to more students moving on to writing the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) Examination.
According to him, 65% of students placed in community high schools or “primary tops” were not completing their secondary education, but this has changed as the Government works to achieve universal secondary education.
“We’re giving every child an opportunity to succeed,” he asserted.
Further, he lauded professionals in the education sector, including teachers, for their hard work. “We need, as a country, to appreciate all of the efforts that were made to achieve this level of success,” he noted.
Once re-elected to office come September 1, Jagdeo noted that investments will continue in various initiatives, with the goal of building a world-class education sector.
“We’re looking forward to the introduction of the digital school in the next term in office; we’re looking forward to using international resources, online tools and artificial intelligence to tailor individualised/personalised training programmes.” he noted.