The City government will provide Buenos Aires families with
monetary aid
to
compensate for increases
in school fees. This is a benefit called
"School Fee Assistance"
, which can be accessed by families who send their sons and daughters to subsidized privately managed schools.
They will receive up to
30,000 pesos for each student
; but this amount may not represent more than
50% of the
program fee paid by families. The benefit will last for three months, from May to July.
According to City data, this benefit could reach
212 thousand students
at all levels: 36,000 at the initial level, 99 thousand at the primary level and 77,000 at the secondary level. And it would cover
854 subsidized schools
. It is about a total of 364,416 students who go to private schools in Buenos Aires.
This relief measure for families will have an estimated cost of
11,000 million pesos
for the City.
The main difference between this benefit and the subsidy that the national government is already providing is that
the City sends the money to schools
, not to families. For a matter of money control and also because logistically the transfer is simplified, as explained by the Buenos Aires government.
The head of Government will announce the measure this Tuesday and an official website will be enabled to carry out the procedure. In a previous talk with
Clarín
and other media, Jorge Macri clarified that this action seeks to alleviate the economic situation of families and also avoid the closure of schools.
During 2023, in the Buenos Aires area,
6 schools closed
: "We know that late payment has increased and that many families are requesting scholarships from schools. Legally, children cannot lose their place and schools are making a great effort to keep children going." , he said.
And he added that "
the social crisis is brutal
, recognized by the national government and by statistics. Families perceive themselves as middle class but today, objectively, their income does not cover the expenses of prepaid or private school," he analyzed. He reported that
49% of students
attend privately managed schools.
Although the head of government analyzes that families "sustain education at the risk of putting their economies in crisis", at the moment the shift from private to public schools is less than 3%.
"For schools, it will be an important monthly income of money that they will manage according to their needs. This way it is guaranteed that the money
actually goes to the schools
and is not used for other things," reinforced Mercedes Miguel, Minister of Education. who in any case will be in charge of monitoring this benefits program.
The information that the City will request is
quite simple and concise
: the children's document number, educational level and address of the establishment. The benefit goes to the students, regardless of where their families reside.
The person in charge who completed the registration will receive
two emails
; one with the confirmation of the procedure and the other with the resolution of the procedure, that is, whether the benefit applies or not.
The Chief of the Cabinet of Ministers, Néstor Grindetti, was also present at the meeting, who explained how this aid will be financed: "Basically
by cutting expenses
. In travel, per diem, events and in structure. For example, in events, the Federal Roast Championship It will no longer be federal, it will no longer include the rest of the country in structure, limiting labor contracts," he explained.
An important detail: families who have applied for the subsidy provided by the national government, announced on March 20,
will also be able to apply
for this aid from the City.
Regarding the national benefit, as reported by the Secretary of Education of the Nation, "as of this Monday at 2:30 p.m. we have
522,000 parents/guardians
who have completed registration, and a total of 712,000 students."
As in the case of City aid, the Nation subsidy contemplates that families enroll all children. That is, there are no restrictions on the number of sons and daughters.
In the Buenos Aires area, the education budget is almost 2 billion pesos; Thus, this aid of 11,000 million pesos represents 0.55% of the total budget.
P.S.