2024 National Budget School Tour Gets under way April 9

The Ministry of Finance and the Public Service (MOFPS) will be kicking off its 2024 National Budget Secondary School Tour on April 9 at St. Catherine High School.

Education and Youth Minister, Hon. Fayval Williams, and State Minister in the MOFPS, Hon. Zavia Mayne, are scheduled to attend the launch, which will begin at 8:30 a.m.

Presentations will be made by the MOFPS’s Corporate Communications and Public Relations Branch, Economic Management Division and Public Expenditure Division.

Now in its second year, the National Budget Secondary School Tour, under the theme ‘The National Budget is Everybody’s Business because it impacts every Jamaican,’ forms part of the Ministry’s thrust to get citizens to understand the budget and how it affects their lives.

Speaking in an interview with JIS News, Acting Director of Corporate Communications and Public Relations at the Ministry, Shakiel Rochester-Shorter, said reaching out to students is important in building their interest in matters of national importance.

“The school tour will sensitise secondary-school students about the national Budget and the role and function of the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service. There must be continuous dialogue with the country’s children,” she noted.

“With this initiative, Jamaicans will see that we have a real interest in helping them understand the national Budget. Once we build the knowledge and understanding of our secondary-school students, when they are adults, they will not fear the reading of the Budget,” she pointed out.

Mrs. Rochester-Shorter said that this year’s Budget school tour will be “exciting and interactive” with prizes and giveaways.

She informed that the Citizens Guide to the Budget will be the main educational material utilised during the tour.

“In the guide, we focus on the budget process, how big the Budget is, where the money comes from to fund it and the allocations of the Budget,” she indicated.

Mrs. Rochester-Shorter said the feedback on the Budget school tour has been positive.

“Other ministries and agencies have been commending the Ministry for simplifying the national Budget and bringing it to the secondary level to engage students on matters related to national importance. Also, our social engagements are proof that this is a good initiative,” Mrs. Rochester-Shorter said.

The tour will also stop at St. Jago High School on April 9.

Other schools to be visited during the tour are Waterford High and Cumberland High, April 11; Bridgeport High and Greater Portmore High, April 12; Haile Selassie High and Norman Manley High, April 16; Ascot High, April 18; Jonathan Grant High and José Martí High, April 19; and Eltham High and Spanish Town High, April 30.