| An estimated 130,000 school uniform vouchers have been distributed so far, the Ministry of Education said yesterday.Minister Shaik Baksh, speaking at a recent forum, has announced that the date for the distribution of the vouchers has been further extended to cater for those who did not have uplifted them.Distribution is currently ongoing at schools across the country.The Ministry last month commenced the distribution programme which aims to bolster students’ attendance throughout the country.The programme, which covers nursery, primary and secondary schools students, began last month in Regions Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, 10 and Georgetown.Under the arrangements, a relative can uplift vouchers in the absence of the parent but must provide an identification card and the child’s report card.The vouchers, which expire on September 15, are redeemable at several designated stores including Ravina International, Alim Shah, Rayon House of Fashion, Guyana Stores Limited, William Fogarty’s, Keishar’s, Giftland Office Max, Dhanmattie Heerall, in Diamond Housing Scheme, and New Era Book Shop in Gafoors Shopping Mall.Vouchers for students leaving primary school are available at the secondary school that they would attend while pupils leaving the nursery system can uplift their incentive at the primary school they were placed.The school uniform project, according to the Ministry, was introduced in 2003 to boost school attendance in rural, riverain and hinterland communities.Meanwhile, Amerindian Affairs Minister, Pauline Sukhai will commence the hinterland programme by distributing the first batch of uniform materials in Region Seven,NFL Jerseys Supply, Upper Mazaruni district tomorrow.Distribution of materials will continue during the coming week.Some 27,000 students from 279 nursery, primary and secondary schools in Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine are slated to benefit.Villagers will be contracted to sew the uniforms, the Ministry disclosed.Along with the materials, other sewing items, such as tape measures, scissors, buttons, threads and zips will also be provided.During the current July/August vacation the Ministry of Education has also introduced a remedial programme targeting weak students both at the primary and secondary levels.The programme, which has been extended to two more weeks, seeks to provide supplementary tuition to children who gained less than 50 per cent marks at the 2009/2010 annual end of year examination with a view of raising them to the required level in the areas of literacy and numeracy in the coming academic year.Some 13,500 children are part of the one-month programme that is being delivered by 800 teachers.In addition, the students are provided with snacks on a daily basis. |
