Education Subsidy will Continue, Despite a Reduction

Francis Fonseca

Since the announcement of a phased reopening of schools last week, seventy schools have already submitted their paperwork for primary, secondary and tertiary institutions across the country.  It’s an optional return to face-to-face instructions beginning on April twelfth and with schools already signing up it also means that many students will need to prepare for that date.  But what about the student subsidies? Before the economic challenges that the country is facing, the Ministry of Education had provided supporting funds for students who qualified for government assistance.  This morning, Minister of Education Francis Fonseca reiterated that the program remains in place, notwithstanding a reduction in the amount each student will receive.

Francis Fonseca, Minister of Education

“The subsidy was never stopped.  The previous government had reduced the subsidy from three hundred dollars to two hundred dollars last year and we are going to continue with that.  It will be a reduced subsidy but we will provide that subsidy that will be in the budget at a reduced rate of two hundred dollars because that is all that we can afford at this time.  In terms of resources, yes, the ministry has done our best.  We’ve done our best to try to identify as much resources as we can within the context of our existing budget.  We have put a line item in the new budget specifically for our COVID education taskforce so that we can use those funds to implement the recommendations of the taskforce.”