00:00This is really unfortunate, but certainly it is an incident that the Trinidad and Tobago
00:07National Council of PTA totally condemns.
00:11President of the Trinidad and Tobago National Council of Parent Teacher Associations, Walter
00:16Stewart, on Sunday criticized the actions of a 33-year-old woman arrested for stealing
00:22school books on Saturday.
00:24But he says it brings into focus a bigger issue.
00:28Many of us are students who have bought, over the years, several textbooks costing exorbitant
00:34sums of money for our students, and many times when you look back after the first academic
00:38school year or so, the books are untouched, not even used.
00:42This, of course, is a waste of hard-earned dollars.
00:46In addition, there was a time when school books were handed down.
00:52He says there needs to be a clearer policy on textbooks.
00:55For now, he says the $1,000 book grant initiative by the Ministry of Education should be immediately
01:03distributed.
01:04We are really soliciting the urgent dispatch of these book grants to cover school books
01:11and school supplies, so that our parents, of course, who are in dire need, can be able
01:15to access these grants so that they can purchase their school books and school supplies in
01:22good time.
01:23When contacted, Education Minister Dr Nayan Gatsby Dolly said over 19,000 applicants
01:30have been approved for the book grant out of about 26,000 applications they received.
01:37She says while disbursement has not yet begun, successful applicants have been notified and
01:43the next step is payment, which she adds will start as soon as possible.
01:49NPETA President says while it was expected that more students would have benefited, it
01:55may not have been financially possible at this time.
01:59We were aware that there were over 65,000 being targeted, but it was a budget of $65
02:04million for this particular book grant and supplies to our students for the academic
02:09year 2024-25.
02:12Cindy Raghubar-Tikasingh, TV6 News.
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