-targets 51,000 students
The Ministry of Education yesterday rolled out an $800M National School Feeding Programme that is expected to benefit over 51,000 nursery and primary students in coastal and riverain communities.
The programme, which will see the distribution of biscuits and juice to students when it officially begins next week, was launched by the Ministry at its Brickdam headquarters, in the presence of the representatives of Banks DIH and Demerara Distillers Limited (DDL), with which it has partnered for the initiative. Banks will supply the biscuits and DDL the juice, for the year. The programme will be every school day of each school term.
Education Minister Shaik Baksh called the programme an important event and expressed hope that the programme will help to increase school attendance. The minister pointed out that two feeding programmes are already underway and have shown great success.
The Hot Meals programme, under the Fast Track Initiative, Baksh stated, has fed students in 83 Primary Schools in regions One, Seven, Eight and Nine. The programme, he said, cost over $5M annually and it is expected to include an added 29 schools this year.
Baksh added that the programme is managed by the Ministry of Education with full participation from the communities.
He also highlighted a $30M school snack programme, where peanut butter, cassava bread and fruit juice, supplied by Sustainable Operational Strategies (SSOS), is distributed to students in Region Nine. The Minister pointed out that 26 more schools are expected to be added to this programme this year.
The new national programme will only target nursery school and Grades One and Two at the primary-level. Three hundred and twenty two (322) nursery schools and 327 primary schools are to benefit.
Baksh disclosed that for this year, an estimated $1.4B will be spent on school feeding programmes. He said that the programmes can also lead to sustainable development through the provisions of products in the local community.
Baksh also assured strong monitoring of the programme to ensure efficiency along with regular audits to ensure that those who are to benefit do, and to avoid leakages.
Meanwhile, after brief statements, the representative of Banks DIH, Marketing Director George Mc Donald, and DDL’s Assistant General Manager (Topco) Tarachendra Khelawan signed contracts with the Ministry.
Khelawan told Stabroek News after the signing that the total amount to be distributed is still to be worked out. However, he said being a part of the programme means a lot for DDL. Besides an increase in value, Khelawan explained, being a part of the feeding programme will produce jobs for persons, especially fruit farmers.
Meanwhile Jerry LaGra, Executive Officer of SSOS, said that seven cottage industries employ some 50 persons, mostly women, to deliver snacks to over 1,400 nursery and primary students and earned over $16M per year over the past four years. The cottage industries produce the fruit juice, cassava bread and peanut butter used in the Ministry of Education Region Nine’s School Snack Programme. An agreement was also signed with the Ministry today to increase the daily number of snacks served from 1,400 to 3,500. (Tiffny Rhodius)