The Government of Saint Lucia will expand its programme providing free sanitary products to students and will ensure school cooks and janitors are paid in August.
The announcements were made by Education Minister Kenson Casimir during his contribution to the debate on the Appropriation Bill in the House of Assembly on Wednesday.
Casimir said the period poverty initiative, which currently supports secondary school students, will be extended to grade schools, with plans to include students at Sir Arthur Lewis Community College.
The programme, introduced in the 2024/25 fiscal year, provides sanitary products to students free of charge. It aims to ease the financial burden on families and help students manage their menstrual health at school.
With this expansion, students at every academic level will get the same support.
In a separate announcement, the minister said the government will pay school cooks and sanitation staff during the August vacation for the first time.
Casimir noted that $407,000 had been allocated to pay cooks and $558,000 for janitors, bringing the total to just under $1 million.
The move follows a similar step taken in 2025, when the administration began ensuring that temporary teachers received full salaries, including during the August vacation period.
The move is expected to benefit hundreds of workers who previously had no income during the school break.
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