PM Persad-Bissessar: Education The Key To Ending Poverty
Noting that « education is the only passport out of poverty, » Prime Minister Kamla Persad-Bissessar SC announced that over two thousand students across her constituency will benefit from a back-to-school initiative spearheaded by donors and corporate sponsors.
This is in addition to the $20 million book grants from the Ministry of Education.
The students will receive a school bag, essential stationery, and cash vouchers redeemable at local bookshops — a mission aimed at ensuring that no child is left behind and every child has the chance to compete on equal footing.
Drawing from her own experience as a young girl in Siparia, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of initiatives such as this. For her, a bursary was the ladder out of poverty.
« These supplies are not just pens, paper, and bags. They represent hope, they represent opportunity, and they represent the possibility of a better life. I’ve always said, and I believe it up to today, that education is the only passport out of poverty. »
She emphasised her continued dedication to ensuring that every child has the tools to succeed academically and otherwise.
« That is why we have reintroduced the distribution of laptops to every Form One student in this new school year. That will be happening. They say books open the mind, but technology opens the world. That is why the laptops are so important, and if we had carried through with our programme, when in COVID the schools were shut down, the students would still have the laptops to enable them to continue to learn and educate themselves. »
The Prime Minister also had a message for the students, reminding them to utilise the supplies responsibly and to dream big.
« Know that you are receiving belief, belief that you matter, belief that you can succeed, and belief that your future is in your hands. So use these supplies well. Study hard and dream big because just as a little girl from Siparia, me, once used education as her ladder out of poverty, so too can you climb as high as your determination will take you. »
The Prime Minister was speaking in her constituency of Siparia at their annual back-to-school drive.
