Marshall Plan Social Contract
The Marshall Plan Social Contract is the main and foundational recommendation of the Marshall Plan. It formalizes the commitment between the
Government and the participating SRM eligible Beneficiary. The Government
assumes the responsibility of providing a monthly subsistence allowance to the
head of the SRM eligible household and the SRM beneficiaries commit themselves
to empowerment programmes that the social contract offers to them to build
their human capital with a view to move out of poverty.
The Social Contract is the point of entry of eligible
beneficiaries living in absolute poverty to benefit from Empowerment schemes
based on various conditions that are laid out in the Contract. The objectives
of the Social Contract are as follows:
v
to eliminate absolute poverty with the
introduction of a monthly subsistence allowance;
v
to offer personalized support to families via a
case management approach; and
v
to improve access to services to enable
beneficiaries to lead full and productive lives.
Empowerment Schemes
With its ongoing poverty alleviation and empowerment
programmes, the Ministry and the National Empowerment Foundation (NEF), its implementing arm, are ensuring maximum coverage of vulnerable
families eligible under the Social Register of Mauritius (SRM), in order to
provide them with the necessary support and empower them to facilitate their
social integration in a sustainable manner.
·
Subsistence Allowance Scheme
The Subsistence Allowance is an income support that is being
paid monthly since December 2016 to beneficiaries living below the absolute poverty
threshold defined on a per capita basis to ensure that the basic needs of
families are met. The absolute poverty
threshold was reviewed in 2021 and is Rs 3,000 per month for an adult and Rs 1,500 per month for a
child, up to a maximum of Rs 10,500 per month for a household.
The absolute poverty threshold was again renewed in the Budget Speech 2023-2024 from Rs 3,000 to Rs 3,575 for an adult and from Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 for a child up to a maximum of Rs 14,650 for a family of 2 adults and 3 children, effective as from 01 July 2023.
·
Crèche Scheme
The purpose of the Scheme shall be to provide a crèche
allowance in respect of children aged not less than 3 months nor more than 3
years, of households, as an incentive for their admission into registered
institutions and to encourage unemployed mothers to take up employment or to
undergo training.
The Scheme is being implemented since February 2017 and a
payment up to a maximum of Rs 2,000 is effected to registered day care centres
in favour of each child admitted.
A child shall be eligible for such scheme only where his
attendance at the registered institution is at least 75 per cent.
·
Child Allowance Scheme
The purpose of the Scheme shall be to provide a child
allowance in respect of children of households as an incentive to encourage
them to attend school regularly.
The child allowance is an income support payable in favour
of children aged not less than 3 years and not more than 23 years, and they
must attend a registered school or educational institution. The child allowance
is payable in respect of not more than 3 children per household. It is a monthly allowance which is payable on a 2-month basis. The quantum of the Child Allowance is Rs 1,046 per child per month based on percentage of school attendance.
·
School Materials Scheme
The purpose of the Scheme shall be to provide school
materials such as bags, uniforms, shoes, copybooks and stationery to children
aged not less than 3 years and not more than 23 years, of households, as an
incentive to motivate them to attend registered pre-primary, primary,
secondary schools and pre-voc institutions every academic year.
·
School Premium Scheme
The purpose of the Scheme is to provide a school premium in
respect of children of households, as an incentive for them to pursue their
studies and achieve higher levels of education.
The scheme applies to students who have passed the
Grade 9 examinations; the School Certificate examinations or its equivalent General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary; or the Higher School Certificate examinations or its equivalent Advanced level (A Level) or the final undergraduate examinations.
Cash award is provided to students as follows:
(a) Rs 15,000 for successfully completing the grade 9 level
under the nine-year schooling;
(b) Rs 25,000 for successfully completing the School Certificate
or its equivalent;
(c) Rs 35,000 for those successfully completing the Higher
School Certificate or its equivalent;
(d) Rs 40,000 for those successfully completing an undergraduate degree;
·
Free Examination Fees Scheme
The purpose of the Scheme is to provide an opportunity to
children of households to have a second attempt, free of charge, at the
examinations for the School Certificate (SC) or its equivalent General
Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary, or Higher School Certificate (HSC) or
its equivalent Advanced Level (A Level), as the case may be, irrespective of
the outcome of their first attempt.
The Scheme is applicable to a child who –
(a) attends a secondary school registered under the Education
Act;
(b) has a percentage attendance rate of at least 90 percent; and
(c) has passed the examinations for the School Certificate (SC)
or its equivalent General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary, or Higher
School Certificate (HSC) or its equivalent Advanced Level (A Level), as the
case may be, at his first attempt but wishes to undertake the examinations at a
second attempt to improve his results; or
(d) has not passed the examinations for the School Certificate
(SC) or its equivalent General Certificate of Education (GCE) Ordinary, or
Higher School Certificate (HSC) or its equivalent Advanced Level (A Level), as
the case may be, at his first attempt and wishes to make a second attempt at
the examinations;
· Psyschological Support to beneficiaries
Over and above socio-economic challenges, poverty can also be linked to a high-stress level and poor mental health due to the multiple stressors and subsequent inter-relationship strains that may arise. In view of addressing such challenges, the Social Integration Division made provision for psychological support to the SRM beneficiaries. The counselling outcomes are often geared towards, inter alia, stress and anxiety management, bridging the communication gap, bettering self-esteem, career counselling and addressing depressive thoughts.
Social Housing
·
Full Concrete Housing
The Ministry works towards improving the living conditions
and environment of vulnerable families, including social housing. Fully
Concrete Housing (FCH) units of up to 50 m2 each are being built throughout the
island for families living in absolute poverty and who are owners of a plot of
land but do not have the means to build a housing unit.
·
Promoting Social Integration within the
Community
With a view to facilitate the integration of the low income
group to the mainstream society, 10% of all new housing units constructed by
the NHDC will be earmarked for the SRM beneficiaries, who are not land owners.
·
Upgrading of houses
An Upgrading Housing Scheme has been introduced to cater for
minor renovation works, provision of toilet and bathroom amenities, replacement
of roof, partitioning, extension and repairs to Corrugated Iron Sheet housing
units, and plastering and flooring for incomplete houses.
Training and Placement Scheme
One of the core pillars of the Marshall Plan Social Contract is the empowerment of beneficiaries through the provision of training and placement. Many SRM beneficiaries do not possess the required skills to join the labour market.
In this respect, the National Empowerment Foundation empowers beneficiaries through home-based, individual or group income generating activities with the objective of assisting them to supplement household income. Such activities therefore become the basis for the acquisition of skills, learning basic projects and cash flow management techniques which may become useful in the emergence of strong micro business culture.
The objective of the scheme is to provide short term tailor-made training courses to unemployed SRM beneficiaries in some specific sectors in order to assist them in acquiring the required skills to get empowered and to either start a small business or become employable which would thus enable them to supplement household income.
The main condition regarding Training and Placement being provided by the MITD is that the beneficiaries should comply to is the attendance rate of at least 90%, based on which, a monthly stipend of Rs. 5,000 and Rs. 1,000 for transport is paid. In addition, toolkit is provided to the beneficiary after completion of training, provided he/she has attained at least 90% of attendance and that they are registering for a Business Registration Number (BRN).
The Ministry together with the National Empowerment Foundation (NEF) have been implementing different training courses for the unemployed beneficiaries in both Mauritius and Rodrigues with the collaboration of training institutions such as the Mauritius Institute of Training and Development (MITD) and National Cooperative College (NCC). In Mauritius there are also other training providers like Food and Agricultural Research & Extension Institute (FAREI), Aaleemee Society, National Women Council and Ministry of Agro Industry and Food Security.
Life Enhancement Education Programme
Life Enhancement Education Programme (LEEP) is also conducted with a view to equipping SRM beneficiaries with the social and interpersonal skills that enable them to cope with the demands of everyday life.
LEEP can be an important tool to help our beneficiaries to find new ways of thinking and problem solving in an ever changing society with new challenges and constraints.
