In 2016, President David Granger launched his ‘Five Bs Initiative’ which was aimed at providing boats, buses, bicycles, breakfast and books to schoolchildren all across Guyana. The program was at the time heavily criticized as a political gimmick by the then PPP Opposition despite its widespread success.
However, President Granger, on an episode of The Public Interest in April, said that the 5 Bs programme fulfills a dire need and that it will save parents a significant amount of money as it relates to school expenses. “I was very disappointed when people made those criticisms. It is a public good and I will continue to increase the transportation for the school children. The state is not involved. It is not going into the state’s coffers. Maintenance is also being done at a regional level. This is not a central government task alone. In my charge to individual Mayors, I said get the children to school please make that a priority,” the President said.
Fortunately, for our children, though scrapping the initial ‘David G’ buses, the PPP Government seems to have come around to the realization that the 5 Bs programme is a necessity. As such, the Minister of Education Priya Manickchand commissioned a 32 seater bus in Region Six, March 2, 2022. The purpose of the bus is to transport students to and from school. The bus will transport children attending school along the Moleson Creek to No.64 Village route thereby reducing the expense related to transportation, the Ministry in a statement said.
