WHILE PERSONS applying late for the school fee assistance programme will not be penalised, they could experience delays in the processing of their applications, according to the Ministry of Labour and Social Security.
Debbie Tyson, public relations manager at the ministry, told The Gleaner on Monday that there was no guarantee that applications which miss today's deadline could be processed in time for the start of the new school term in September.
According to Ms. Tyson, some 40,000 persons who were registered under the ministry's Programme of Advancement of Health and Education (PATH) were expected to be granted school fee assistance.The Ministry of Education said it could not provide the number of students registered under its cost-sharing programme.
PATH beneficiaries will receive 100 per cent assistance, however, those under the cost-sharing programme would only be granted limited assistance.
Ms. Tyson said the parishes of St. Catherine, St. Elizabeth and Westmoreland had the most applications for assistance while one Clarendon school accounted for 300 students.
