Nevis Reformation Party leader Dr. Janice Daniel-Hodge is calling on the Nevis Island Administration to supplement the federal government’s EC$250 back-to-school voucher.
Speaking on Freedom FM’s popular Issues programme on Thursday, Daniel-Hodge welcomed the initiative but said she would have preferred EC$500 for students in Nevis.
“The $250 voucher that students can apply for—while it is encouraging to see that the federal government has taken that step, it shows to me that there’s some level of understanding and connectedness with the people and the struggles that they are going through. I did make a post, and I did say that I think it would have been great if it were $500, especially for the people in Nevis.”
Daniel-Hodge said Nevisian families face a higher cost of living, while students travelling to the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College must also meet ferry and other transportation expenses.
She argued that the NIA should have added further assistance to the federal voucher.
“The federal government provided $250. I think the NIA should have been in a position where we could say that the cost of living over here is higher. We understand the additional transportation expenses for our students, and so let’s top this up a little bit.”
Daniel-Hodge said the proposed top-up would be a practical, once-a-year intervention for families, particularly if education is genuinely being treated as a priority.