Trinidad and Tobago’s Education Minister Anthony Garcia says the government will be suspending the distribution of free textbooks to the majority of students in an effort to cut costs.
Garcia who made the announcement during a radio interview on Monday said the government will save 119 million TT dollars by cutting back on this provision.
According to Garcia, the decision was made by Cabinet, following an ongoing series of fiscal adjustments since the presentation of the 2015/2016 budget in October.
Garcia who admitted that the decision was made based on Government’s financial position said the total cost to provide books prior to the decision for the most recent school year would have been TT$138 million.
The suspension of the programme follows a recent announcement by former Central Bank Governor Jwala Rambarran that the country was in a recession.
