Amerindian communities countrywide will benefit from the distribution of Gy$63 million in school uniforms, beginning next week.
The uniforms will be distributed to the hinterland communities of Regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine.
Some 30,000 students from about 280 schools at the nursery, primary and secondary levels will benefit from this initiative.
The distribution of vouchers allowing for accessing the uniforms will commence in Region Nine soon.
School uniform material being cut and packaged for hinterland schools by employees of the Amerindian Affairs Ministry
The raw materials for the uniforms, along with all the sewing materials, including thread, scissors, and needles, will be given to the “community women’s group” in each village. They will sew the uniforms for the students, and in return will be given a stipend of Gy$300 for each uniform sewn.
Amerindian Affairs Minister Pauline Sukhai, while addressing the media during a press conference, also disclosed that 68 Amerindian students will be graduating on July 6 under the Hinterland Scholarships programme. These students have completed their Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate examinations and, for the summer holidays, the ministry will be repatriating the students to their respective home villages.
Sukhai said that the ministry continues to make investments to better the lives of students from the hinterland who are at tending school in Region Four. A new 30-seater bus which was bought by the Amerindian Affairs Ministry to transport the students to and from school was handed over to the students’ dormitory on June 15.
Under the Hinterland Scholarships programme, students are able to attend schools in urban areas. The objective of the programme is to provide students from hinterland communities with quality secondary or technical education which they otherwise would not be able to access in their communities, and to allow for the integration of hinterland students into the wider Guyanese society.
