25 Jan 2005

Solomon Islands Government increases its payments for primary school students

4:46 pm on 25 January 2005

The Solomon Islands government has increased its cash grant per child under the Free Primary Education Policy.

The permanent secretary for Education and Human Resources Development, Dr Derick Sikua, says the move from 5.4 U.S. dollars to 6.8 dollars per child per term applies to all children attending all primary schools in the country.

The Solomon Islands Broadcasting Corporation quotes Dr Sikua as saying that the Ministry will be holding a meeting with all headmasters and education authorities this week to explain how the grant will be paid.

He says the cash grant will be paid to education authorities but after June, the payments will be made into the accounts of the primary schools.

Dr Sikua says the first payment will be made before the end of this week or early next week.

The grant is for maintenance of school buildings, administration costs, sports equipment, labour costs and other costs associated with infrastructure development.