Ministry Ensuring Schools Get Books & Grants on Time

KINGSTON — Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Audrey Sewell, says the Ministry is working assiduously to ensure that tuition and maintenance grants reach most educational institutions in time for the new school year, in September.

Speaking at a press briefing at the Ministry, National Heroes Circle, Kingston, on Friday August 19, Mrs. Sewell said that as of August 9, payments of approximately $1.3 billion in tuition fees were made to 167 secondary schools.

“For the past two years, we have done much better…in terms of sending out payments on time, than previous years. Last year was very good and this year we are not late, and so the trend continues,” she remarked.

She said that for maintenance grants, the Ministry has made payment of approximately $31 million, and has prepared warrants for some $764 million for the PATH/Feeding Grant, which will be sent to schools this week.

She however noted that audits of subvention accounts have revealed that, several institutions have millions of dollars of unused funds available to them.

“One school has $5.7 million, another has $2.5 million and we could go on. So, the schools are not broke, funds are there and they usually have residual funds that they use to tide them over, in case of any lateness or emergency,” she said.

Mrs. Sewell also disclosed that the Ministry has almost completed the delivery of text books to secondary schools.

“We started the distribution of textbooks to secondary schools as early as May, and most of the books that were distributed came from what we retrieved from the system,” she stated. She also noted that the Ministry retrieved millions of dollars worth of unused books from a number of schools, some of which were brand new books stored in unopened boxes.

Mrs. Sewell said the Ministry has also started the delivery of primary school textbooks, and is expected to complete the distribution in time for the reopening of school.

“Some schools however do have a problem with storage so, though we might be ready to deliver, they have asked us to keep them because they don’t have anywhere to store them,” she said.

She said that for this reason suppliers have had to take back some books, and the Ministry has to work with the schools to ensure that they are delivered to them as soon as school reopens.

By ATHALIAH REYNOLDS, JIS Reporter