The bulk of parents of public school pupils have now received a one-off $150 back-to-school payment — two months after term started.

They were thanked for their “patience” in waiting to receive the money after the Government apologised for delays in getting the scheme up and running.

The Education Department said that nearly 90 per cent of the 2,760 applications have been approved and almost 80 per cent of them paid out.

However, various parts of the relief scheme have seen delays, for which David Burt blamed the need to ensure that they would meet the scrutiny of the Auditor-General.

The application system for the payment for parents and guardians did not go live until days before pupils returned to school in September.

Diallo Rabain, the Minister of Education, apologised to parents for the time lag in getting the payments processed.

He said: "The Government remains committed to ensuring that our families receive support and resources as we return to normalcy.

"The $150 relief is a part of the Government's overall economic relief package. It is being made as a one-time payment to parents and guardians to help ease the financial burden on public school families.

"The Ministry of Education has received applications for 2,760 students, 2,521 applications have been approved by the ministry and submitted to the Accountant-General's Office for payment. The Accountant-General's Office has paid 2,299 of the 2,521 submitted for payment.

"I want to thank parents and guardians again for their patience as we work diligently to ensure the last of the applications are processed and paid."

Pressed on the delays last month, Mr Burt told The Royal Gazette: “I don’t know if I’ll agree it’s been a bit of a shambles.

“I would say that during the pandemic we got criticism from the Auditor-General’s office for ignoring financial instructions.

“If I waived that process and went directly, I would get the same criticism that we got previously, so I accept that.”