Kreetika Kumar 
The Back-to-School Support payment for the 2025 school year has been processed and paid a while ago.
This early payment today, ahead of the initially announced date of 15 January 2025, will give parents 2 and a half weeks to prepare their children for school.
As part of the Back-to-School support initiative, a total of 208,673 applications were received. Of this, 200,176 successful applications have been paid today, totalling $40.4 million.
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Finance Professor Biman Prasad says the remaining 8,313 applications are currently on hold from students awaiting their Year-12 exam results, as they have not yet been enrolled in Year-13.
He adds that these payments will be processed once the results are available and students are officially enrolled in Year-13 for the 2025 school year by the end of January.
Parents and guardians can access the $200 support per child via their MPAiSA or MyCASH accounts and Post Fiji outlets.
The funds can be withdrawn or used virtually through digital wallets for the purchase of school items.
Professor Prasad says that for those in maritime areas, the funds are available for collection at the nearest Post Fiji agency, upon presenting the child’s student ID as proof.
In 2023, a total of 223,475 students were paid around $44.7 million, while in 2024, a total 212,740 students were paid $42.5 million under the initiative.
With this payout, the total assistance under this initiative since its inception will be around $130 million
