The Government of Guyana has no intention to make vaccination a requirement for parents to access cash grants for children within the public school system. This was recently disclosed by the Health Minister’s Advisor, Dr. Leslie Ramsammy.
“There is no vaccination eligibility for parents to receive the Education Cash Grant. For the Education Cash Grant, the only eligibility remains that there is a child in school, from nursery to secondary. By the end of this week, more than $1.5B would have been distributed to parents and not one of them have
had to prove they were vaccinated against COVID-19. Any such assertion is a deliberate falsehood. The Ministry of Health has no plans to make COVID-19 vaccination mandatory. The Ministry of Education has no plans to require COVID-19 vaccination to qualify for the cash grant,” Dr. Ramsammy said.
He added that almost 60% (249,000) of the adult population have already received at least one dose of COVID-19 vaccines, with over 30% (135,000) adults fully vaccinated.
“We urge all responsible stakeholders to support the ongoing efforts of the Guyana Government to vaccinate all adults. At the same time, we urge every parent of children in school to obey all the COVID-19 measures as they come forward to receive the ‘Because We Care’ cash grant.
The grant, which is valued at $19,000, comprises the value of the Because ‘We Care Grant” ($15,000) and the value of the School Uniform and Supplies grant ($4000). Last year, a voucher was given for the School Uniform and Supplies programme, but the Government of Guyana decided this year not to use vouchers but to give parents the actual cash.
