$4.2 Billion Allocated For School Feeding Programme; More Students to Benefit

The Ministry of Education will be spending approximately $4.2 billion under the School Feeding Programme for the 2015/2016 academic year.

The allocation will enable hundreds of thousands of students in primary and secondary schools to receive a nutritious lunch each day, while over 130,000 children at the early childhood level will be provided with breakfast and lunch.

Speaking at a JIS Think Tank on Tuesday (August 25), Chief Education Officer, Dr. Grace McLean, said that more students will benefit from the programme this year.

She said the various provisions under the programme have been consolidated, which will enable more efficient use of the resources.

“We have consolidated the Programme for Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) feeding grant that we receive from the Ministry of Labour and Social Security, with the school feeding grant that the Ministry receives in its regular budget, along with funds that we would have used to purchase commodities, and the allocation to Nutrition Products into one, to be able to feed more children,” Dr. McLean said.

This consolidation of resources will allow the schools to stretch the funds that they receive to prepare meals for students, who are on PATH, from three days per week, to five days.

Dr. McLean explained that the Ministry has also discontinued the purchase of commodities such as rice, flour, corned beef and cooking oil for schools, and instead, each institution is given an allocation based on the number of students in attendance.

Money previously used for storage and transportation of the commodities will now go into feeding students.

“Schools are provided with the funds after an assessment is done to ensure that the institutions have proper facilities, cooks and that all the hygiene practices are being observed in terms of the preparation of meals,” Dr. McLean explained.

She told JIS News that schools are also provided with menus to guide in the preparation of wholesome meals for the children.