MONTEGO BAY, St James — Education Minister Senator Ruel Reid has announced a raft of benefits to be implemented in State-run schools at the start of the new academic year in September.

Reid said among the benefits are a sixth form text book rental programme, a 100 per cent increase in janitorial grants, and the launch of a ‘give-back programme’ for early childhood and primary schools.

The announcements were made during a question-and-answer segment of a consultation meeting with parents at the Montego Bay High School in St James on Saturday.

According to Reid, the Government is not only focusing on secondary schools.

“I want to say also that our infrastructure budget has been expanded and I am trying to get us to improve as many of our facilities as possible, and we will continue that programme… a lot of money is being spent, and the Japanese [Government] has been giving us some money and a lot of the primary schools are being upgraded,” he explained.

Senator Reid said that shortly, he will be writing what he described as “an exemplary cheque” — as part of the ‘give-back initiative’ — that will set a platform for the public to give back to schools.

“Shortly we are going to have a launch of what we call a donor gala where the minister of education himself is going to write a cheque, an exemplary cheque, where I am going to call on all the people in Jamaica to give back to all our early childhood institutions and our primary schools, just like how they give to our secondary schools,” he said. “I am saying, we all benefited from the system, we must give back.”