The government has again announced the Back-to-School Support Program for the 2025 school year, reaffirming its commitment to assisting families with educational expenses.

Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister, Biman Prasad says the government has allocated $40 million in the 2025 budget to continue this support.

Families earning a combined annual income of $50,000 or less, with children from early childhood education up to Year 13, are eligible for the assistance.

Prasad says the payments will commence from Wednesday 15th, January next year.

He says that applications open tomorrow and will close on December 6th allowing parents five weeks to complete the application process before schools close for the year.

“Parents and guardians can obtain forms from schools or download them from the Ministry of Education or Ministry of Finance website. This is important. The application period will begin from tomorrow, Thursday, 31st, of October 2024 and close on 6th December, 2024.”

Prasad says students currently enrolled in Year 13 are not eligible to apply.

“Parents enrolling children in ECE or early childhood education for the first time in 2025 must complete the enrollment process before applying. They should complete the enrollment process so that we know that they are going to be enrolled or have already enrolled. Year 13 students currently enrolled in 2024 are not eligible because the expectation is that they will be transitioning out of the secondary school system next year.”

The program, first introduced last year, offers $200 per student and aims to ease financial burdens on families, especially after the holiday season.

In 2023, over 223,475 students benefited, with a total payout of $44.7 million.

This year, the initiative supported 212,740 students with $42.5 million, bringing the total expenditure for the last two years to $87 million.