Pres Ali announces one-off $100,000 cash grant to every Guyanese 18 years and older

– courses at all Govt institutions to now be tuition-free from Jan 2025

President Dr Irfaan Ali has announced that the $200,000 cash grant per household initiative, which he had announced last week, has been re-examined and will now be amended to provide a $100,000 cash grant to every citizen 18 years and older.
During a national broadcast, President Ali said this decision was made based on feedback following last week’s announcement, including complications within families and fears of being bypassed.
He noted that over the past week, thousands of Guyanese have engaged him and members of his Cabinet, providing extremely favourable feedback on the measures announced. He noted that while tens of thousands have publicly expressed their welcoming of these measures, others have noted the complexity of implementing the plan.
“It is the understanding of the complexity there is even within and among families and understanding the importance of feedback that we have received, including internal family conflict about access and distribution of the grant.
“We’ve seen recently a rush to transfer registration of utility meters and a rush to prepare tenancy agreements, all of which is aimed at establishing a distinct household as well as other complications that may arise in administering these benefits,” he explained.
In light of these real or perceived challenges, President Ali said that he ordered the re-examination of the measure last Friday. This was with the aim of expanding the benefits and also removing the challenges.
President Ali also noted that this reconsideration was guided by key principles that included reducing the burden of administering the benefit; simplifying the procedures for accessing the benefit; improving ease of verification; minimising any potential conflicts that might arise, whether within the family or community; ensuring an open, transparent, and verifiable system of delivery and expanding the benefit.
“Instead of the one-off cash grant of $200,000 to every household previously announced, my government will now expand this benefit by providing a one-off cash grant of $100,000 to every citizen of Guyana who would have attained the age of 18 years, with the simple means of verification being possession of a valid national identification card and/or a valid Guyanese passport,” the President said.
“This measure is expected to substantially increase the $60 billion previously allocated for the one-off household grant. However, in the interest of fairness and openness and in the interest of ensuring that the widest possible benefit is given to the Guyanese population, we believe that this is the best course of action.”
The Head of State pointed out his Government’s responsibility to ensuring the equitable distribution of the funds while establishing a system that ensures this. With that in mind, he noted that this new method will address the many concerns of young people, who may not yet have a family of their own.
“This also addresses the many concerns of young people who may not yet have a family, but who thought in their discourse with us that they would not benefit from the household allocation because they were not yet the head of the household. This new initiative will now take into consideration those persons, and expand the benefit to those young professionals also.”
President Ali also announced the removal of fees from all educational institutions including the Guyana School of Agriculture (GSA); Carnegie School of Home Economics; Government technical institutes and the Board of Industrial Training among others. This measure will take effect from January 1, 2025.
“It would be recalled that I also announced the abolition of tuition fees at the University of Guyana with effect from 1st January 2025. In response to feedback received, I now wish to announce that tuition fees will also be abolished at all Government technical and vocational training institutions, including all of the technical institutes.
“This measure will benefit more than 3000 persons. These announcements are made in keeping with my Government’s efforts to ensure greater and equitable access to benefits, empowering and helping as many people as possible,” President Ali said.
The Government’s announcement of free university education was in keeping with its 2020 manifesto promise. President Ali had revealed that this initiative would continue his administration’s advancement of the country’s human capital, especially the young generation and their families who will benefit from the tuition-free tertiary education.
In keeping with the People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government’s policy of making tertiary education free in the country, some $203.7 million in student loans have already been written off by the State. This debt write-off benefited approximately 346 students. (G3)