CHILD ALLOWANCE 358. A monthly payment of Rs 929 per child for the Child Allowance scheme is payable as an incentive to eligible SRM Households to send their children to school. For this 2019, there are currently 12,000 beneficiaries. Under this Scheme the allowance is paid per child based on 90% attendance is effected in favour of school-going children aged between 3 and 23 years old. 359. For the financial year 2017/2018, a total amount of Rs100,075,974 was disbursed under the Child Allowance Scheme and Rs 104,047,107 for 2018/2019. SCHOOL MATERIALS 360. The purpose of the Scheme is to provide school materials such as bags, uniforms, shoes, copybooks and stationery to children of pre-primary, primary, secondary schools and prevocational institutions, as an incentive to motivate them to attend school. Allowance for school materials is provided in the range of Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,000. In academic year 2018, some 18,302 students of Mauritius and Rodrigues have benefitted from school materials. There are 18,944 beneficiaries for the Academic Year of 2019. 361. For the financial year 2017/2018, a total amount of Rs 33,688,808 was disbursed under the School Materials Scheme, and Rs 40 M was disbursed in 2018/2019. THE SCHOOL PREMIUM SCHEME 362. The school premium is a cash award aimed at improving the educational achievements of students from poor families and to encourage them attaining higher level of education. The scheme currently applies to students who have passed the examinations of School Certificate and Higher School Certificate. The amounts of the School Premium awarded are Rs 25000 to students of the School Certificate and Rs 35, 000 to those of the Higher School Certificate. There were some 223 beneficiaries for Academic Year 2018. The school premium is being extended to tertiary level as announced in the Budget 2019/2020 and they will benefit from a one-off grant of Rs 40,000. Since implementation of the Scheme in 2017, nearly 500 School Certificate and Higher School Certificate students from SRM eligible families have received the cash awards. For the financial year 2017/2018, a total amount of MUR 6,790,000 was disbursed under this Scheme and Rs 6,4 M for 2018/2019. 363. Moreover, with the implementation of the nine year schooling programme, the first cohort of students in 2020 who successfully complete grade 9 will be entitled in 2020 to a cash award of Rs 15,000 (approximately US $ 500). 132