School and allowances help needed

My sprog is attending the lycee studying for his Bac. We went today to get a card vitel for him and they asked is he was getting his allowances. We have not applied for any allowances on his behalf, we did not know that any were available. Does anybody know what the people at the card vitel office were talking about? Are there allowances available for kids at Lycee? Thanks for your help in advance.

Steven.