Parents Question Book Grant Selection as Rejection Notices Surface
A Trinidad and Tobago mother says she is disappointed after receiving notice that her application for the Government’s 2026 School Supplies and Book Grant was unsuccessful, adding to growing questions from parents about the rollout and selection process.
The mother, who contacted TG News, said she is a single parent and had been depending on the grant to assist with expenses for the new school term.
“I’m a single mother and I was really depending on the book grant. All we want is for [them] to let us know if we were approved or not,” she said.
She later shared what appears to be an application update bearing the name of the Ministry of Education, informing her that her application was unsuccessful.
The notice stated that following a review of applications, the applications for the children listed were “not successful for the Book Grant 2026, having regard to funding restrictions.”
The names of the mother and children have been withheld by TG News to protect their privacy.
Following the rejection, the mother questioned how applicants were selected and expressed concern that some working parents appeared to have received assistance while others who were not working had been unsuccessful.
“Very much unfair cause people who working getting an who not working not getting,” she said.
TG News has not independently verified the mother’s claim regarding the employment status of successful recipients, and the rejection notice itself does not indicate that employment status was the reason for the decision.
However, the case adds to wider concerns being raised by parents about the school book grant as families seek answers on the status of their applications.
A recent informal poll involving 150 parents found that approximately 145 respondents said neither they nor anyone they knew had received the grant at the time they were questioned. The poll was not a scientific or nationally representative survey, but the responses highlighted frustration among participating parents.
The latest rejection notice also raises questions about the reference to “funding restrictions” and whether the available allocation was sufficient to cover all applicants who otherwise met the programme’s requirements.
With the school term already underway, parents who planned their back-to-school spending around the assistance are now seeking greater clarity about who qualified, how applications were assessed and when successful applicants will receive their grants.
