KINGSTON, Jamaica — The government has reaffirmed its commitment to providing social support to vulnerable Jamaicans in commemoration of the 20th anniversary of the Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH).

PATH is the government’s flagship social protection programme under which 130,000 families are currently enrolled. It is administered through the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.

Addressing the 20th anniversary church service at the Church of Transfiguration in St Andrew on Sunday, Minister of Education and Youth, Fayval Williams, said the initiative is making a big difference in the lives of beneficiaries. She lauded the team at the Ministry of Labour and Social Security for their work over the years.

She said the social assistance programme has been a significant channel through which many students have been enabled to continue their education, to pay for their exams and to receive nutritional support as well as help with transportation.

“PATH which was started 20 years ago … has endured across many different administrations, which speaks to the commitment of different governments to care for the most vulnerable of our society,” Williams said.

With the funding from PATH, she said, the Ministry of Education and Youth continues to provide meals to students either as snacks, prepared by Nutrition Products Limited — an entity of the ministry, or cooked meals.

“Across our schools 95 per cent of them now have a canteen through which they either provide food at the school locally or through providers who bring the food in,” she informed.

Williams said these meals are provided from infant schools through to secondary level, noting that at present, some 1014 infant, primary and secondary schools including several private schools, benefit from the cooked lunch component of the programme.

“In the last financial year which ended March 31, a total of 131,700 students were PATH beneficiaries … The benefit from PATH to our students… [was] in excess of $7 billion,” she stated.

Additionally, she noted that 400 PATH students from six St Catherine based schools are benefitting from the introduction of the student passenger rail service. The service is a collaboration among the education and transport and mining ministries, the Railway Corporation of Jamaica and the Jamaica Urban Transit Company. It aims to provide an additional modality of transportation for students.

She said this intervention signals the ministry’s commitment through partnerships, to improve the rural transportation programme to benefit over 7500 PATH and needy students from 250 primary and high schools across 13 parishes.

“These social welfare assistance programmes are necessary even as we make efforts to reduce the number of persons who require this type of help through the development of a more robust economy in which they can find gainful employment,” she said.

The ministry and government remain committed to ensuring that no child should be left behind because of financial challenges their families face.

“We are committed to our motto…’Every child can learn, every child must learn’ and PATH is helping us to fulfil the mandate to make this a reality and we want to say to all the children who are beneficiaries of PATH, there is no stigma associated with that programme,” she said.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Labour and Social Security Colette Roberts Risden, said over the years the programme has never lost sight of its mandate which focuses on the importance of education.

“While we continue to provide benefits…education remains our number one priority. In the last financial year, almost 2000 students benefitted from post-secondary grants and another 4000 students benefitted from tertiary bursaries to assist them to complete their tertiary studies,” she said.

The permanent secretary said the programme was developed on the principle that an educated person in a healthy body is more equipped to beat the cycle of poverty.

She praised the local and international partners who have been integral to the programme. “Our success is your success, continue to hold the banner high as we support each other in providing quality social protection to those among us,” she said.

Among the former beneficiaries of the programme are President and CEO of One-on-One Educational Service, Ricardo Allen and 2019 Jamaica Rhode Scholar, Dr Chevano Baker.