DPM PRASAD’S SPEECH STATEMENT ON THE ROLLOUT OF THE “BACK TO SCHOOL SUPPORT FOR 2024 SCHOOL YEAR”

Ladies and Gentlemen, Ni Sa Bula Vinaka and a very good morning to you all.
 
When we came into Government almost 10 months ago, one of the first key initiatives that we introduced was the $200 Back-to-School Support to help parents and children prepare for the 2023 school year and ensure that every child is well equipped with proper uniforms, school bags, shoes, lunch boxes, stationery and other necessities before school starts.
 
We had assisted a total 223,475 students (or can say over 223 thousand students) with a total payout of $44.7 million to children with parental income below $50,000. Overall, 92 percent of all enrolled students from ECE to Year 13 were assisted early this year and we had ascertained that almost everybody that was eligible had received the payment.
 
In the last 10 months we have been focused on addressing numerous challenges that we had inherited from the previous Government, including a neglected public infrastructure in urgent need for maintenance, a crippling health system that needed urgent attention to lift service delivery, state institutions that were broken, a massive debt problem and many more.
 
As we have said, fixing these chronic problems will take some time. But we started with a decisive budget that is inclusive, forward looking and ensures prudent fiscal management. We increased social welfare payments by 15 percent and 25 percent for those over the age of 70 years, allocated almost $200 million in maintenance of state assets, increased the health sector budget and had forgiven $650 million in TELS debt for over 53,000 students and introduced scholarships moving forward instead of burdening our students and their families with loans.
 
Last week, Cabinet approved the provision of $8.2 million to top-up the final cane payment for the 2022 season crop with a highest ever total cane price of $91.38 per tonne. We believe that our farmers deserve this additional support from their Government for the hard work and in line with our commitment to revive the industry by motivating farmers.
 
As announced in the Budget, today, we are again rolling out the Back-to-School support for the 2024 school year. A total of $45 million has been allocated in the FY2023- 2024 Budget for this initiative, and we expect to assist over 220,000 students.
 
a. We are opening the application much earlier compared to previous round to allow parent/guardians, teachers, and schools more time to complete and submit the applications.
 
b. Parents and guardians will be eligible for the $200 assistance per each child to purchase school items to ensure that their children are well equipped for the 2024 school year.
 
c. Same as earlier this year, the “Back-to-School Support” is for students in Early Childhood Education, Primary and Secondary School up to Year 13 for the 2024 school year.
 
d. Support will be provided on a per-student basis for families earning $50,000 and less in combined annual gross household income.
 
To make this process as accessible as possible, parents and guardians can obtain the hardcopy manual application forms from their child’s school or download from the Ministry of Education and Ministry of Finance websites.
 
The application for “Back to School” Support will open from Monday 6 November and close on Friday, 22 December 2023. This means that parents/guardians will have 7 weeks to gather all the required documentations and make the application. The Ministry of Finance will start making the payments on Wednesday 10 January 2024 so that parents and guardians have enough time of more than two weeks to prepare their children for the 2024 school year which will start on 29 Jan 2024.
 
The completed application forms need to be submitted to the schools for verification and updating on the FEMIS. We wish to advise that separate application forms must be filled for each student. The Ministry of Finance is working very closely with the Ministry of Education and a circular will be issued to all schools as we speak on the roles and responsibilities of teachers and Heads of Schools. We call upon all teachers and school management to assist us in effectively rolling out this initiative.
 
For families with children who currently receive subsidised transportation assistance, they do not have to complete the full application form (especially the income verification section of the application form) as they are already verified to be earning less than $50,000.
 
All families earning below $50,000 annually and whose children do not currently receive transportation assistance will have to apply by filling in the full Back-to-School
Support application form with a section for income verification purposes which has to be verified and signed by either the School Principal, Head Teacher, Education Officer, Justice of Peace, Commissioner for Oaths, Labour Officer, Turaga-Ni-Koro, Matani Tikina, Advisory Councillor, Roko Tui or Provincial Administrator.
 
Apart from this, the principal applicant has to also sign a section on for statutory declaration to confirm that the information provided is correct. For clarity I wish to advise that a separate declaration is not needed as this section is already built as part of the application form. The applications are quite simple and similar to the one used in the last round of the application.
 
There is still around 5 weeks left for school year 2023, so this will provide plenty time for parent/guardians and teachers to submit applications prior to holiday season. I would just like to briefly explain the technical details on the eligible students.
 
• Parents/guardians of students currently enrolled in early childhood education (ECE) to Year 12 for school year 2023 can submit the application to their current school. In the cases of ECE, Year 8 and Year 12, schools can use the 2023 classes in FEMIS to enter
the 2024 back to school support eligibility details.
 
• Payment for Year 12 students who will be progressing to Year 13 in 2024 will be done once the Year 12 exam results are released, and they are enrolled for 2024 School Year.
 
• For students entering early childhood education in 2024, parents or guardians should first enroll them for the 2024 school year at their preferred school before applying for the Back-to-School Support. Once the new ECE students are enrolled for next year, Heads of Schools should receive the applications.
 
• I would like to mention that Year 13 students who are currently enrolled in the 2023 school year are not eligible for assistance, as they will be transitioning out of the secondary school system next year. Heads of Schools should not accept applications from parents or guardians of Year 13 students enrolled in the 2023 school year.
 
Heads of schools (HOS) and teachers are encouraged to support this Government initiative for the benefit of our children and they have a huge role to play. Schools should
inform the parents/guardians about this initiative and provide a printed form to each student for them to take back home for their parents/guardians.
 
It is the responsibility of the Heads of Schools to ensure that all the details provided in the application form are correct and that proper verification is conducted from their
end before the application form is signed off and entered into FEMIS, including ensuring the applicant is the legal parent or guardian to avoid any misuse of the initiative.
 
I would like to reiterate that parents and guardians need to double check that the details in the manual application are 100% correct. I also request for parents to be vigilant while filling the application form and provide correct and up-todate information including the phone numbers. Just to be on the safe side, check with your service provider in advance that the phone number is registered under your name and is working. The phone number should be registered for MPAiSA or MyCASH to receive the funds.
 
Like the previous “Back-to-School Support” all payments will be disbursed through the Vodafone M-PAiSA and Digicel MyCash platforms. For students in maritime islands with no mobile coverage, families will have to provide the address of their nearest Post Fiji Office/Agency to receive support through TMO.
 
This initiative represents our commitment to providing equal educational opportunities for all children in Fiji. We believe that a quality education is a fundamental right, and we are taking concrete steps to ensure that every child can access the resources they need to succeed.
 
Thank you, and I encourage all eligible families to take advantage of this program to support the education of our future generations. Together, we can build a brighter future for Fiji.