Chaguanas Mayor Gopaul Boodhan has called on all individuals to assist needy children to get school supplies for the new term.
Boodhan was at the time speaking with Guardian Media on Saturday when he hosted his 25th annual back to school drive at his Lendore Village home where needy children were given books and bags to start the new term.
Boodhan said he began assisting children long before his entry into politics because he sees education as an investment in the community.
He said given the tough economic times more parents are finding great difficulty in purchasing the plethora of books that students need.
He said parents are also compounded with additional expenses when the term starts.
The Mayor said “This is about giving back to my community. I was born here and I would continue to live here. In the next 25 years, I want to see the youths in the community take this project forward. I would like to do a Centre of Youth Excellence so youths in the borough without the support can access assistance for their education.”
Chaguanas East MP Fazal Karim was also at the event.
Karim said education is the passport from poverty to prosperity and puts young people in the position to have a good career and a better quality of life “We have seen the difficulties in our society in the past years and it is so very hard when you are not working, if you are working for small salaries, it is very difficult to buy the books on the list.”