Training incentive grants

Press, 12 May 1984, Page 26

Training incentive grants

More than 100 widows and solo parents in Christchurch have been granted training incentive allowances by the Social Welfare Department since the scheme was introduced on November 1 last year. The allowances are available for domestic purposes beneficiaries and widows receiving social welfare benefits. A spokesman for the department said that 133 applications had been received, of which 113 had

been accepted. Most of the 20 whose applications had been declined had wanted to do courses which did not qualify for the allowance because they were unlikely to increase the chances of a beneficiary getting a job. One such course was the liberal studies course at the University of Canterbury. Beneficiaries are paid up to $l5 a week as a training allowance, but most have opted to take the allowance as a lump sum, usually to pay for university or poly-

technic fees. The spokesman said that most who had applied were already highly motivated to obtain employment and a lot were already doing courses when the allowance was introduced. Generally the trainees already had University Entrance and had intended to go on to tertiary training but had had their training interrupted by pregnancy. The department is still getting three or four new applications a week.