Free textbooks program for needy students set to begin

It has been trumpeted from the U.D.P. rostrum for several weeks now, but today a B.I.S. press release officially announced government’s new policy for assisting needy primary school students with textbooks. The program, which is being made possible by the United Kingdom’s initiative to cancel the debt repayments owed by Commonwealth nations and use the money for poverty reduction, will begin in the upcoming school year. Under the new policy, children of families earning ten thousand dollars per year or less will be automatically eligible for a free set of basic textbooks in Math, English, Reading, Social Studies and Science. Those households earning between ten and twenty thousand, with two or more dependents, will be considered on a case by case basis. Application forms are available from each district education office and the offices of primary school principals nationwide. Completed forms must be returned by September fourth.