Minister of Education Milagros Ortiz Bosch said that the start of the school year will be used by the government to bolster programs to reduce poverty. She said her department will distribute 200,000 school uniforms, an equal number of shoes, 10 million textbooks, 25,000 bicycles and will issue a monthly expenditures card of RD$300 to 25,000 single mothers with children of school age. She also announced the opening of 450 community day care centers. Bosch said the students will also receive in October a student card enabling them to have access to dental care and eye exams at Ministry of Public Health hospitals.
