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Reinstate free lunch in schools
Students enjoy a meal provided through a school feeding programme.
What you need to know:
- Many children are forced to take on laborious tasks from a young age just to secure a single meal.
- School feeding programs not only alleviate this burden but also attract more children to school, offering them the promise of regular meals, thereby reducing dropout rates.
Can you imagine the struggle of attending school on an empty stomach, with no hope of a meal at home?
This hardship severely impairs the concentration of countless number of learners across the nation, particularly in primary schools, directly impacting their academic performance.
While providing food is the responsibility of parents or guardians, many families face financial hardships that make this task nearly impossible.
The World Food Programme (WFP) estimates that millions of children, around the world go to school each day without a proper meal, which undermines their focus and learning capacity.
The benefits of a school feeding programme go beyond providing meals, it plays a crucial role in promoting equality and inclusion, contributing to the sustainable development of a nation.
Such programmes help mitigate the negative effects of emergencies on health, nutrition and education.
Therefore, it is imperative for county and national governments to restore and expand school feeding programmes.
Adequate funding should be allocated, and policies must be developed to ensure the long-term sustainability of these initiatives.
The school feeding programme is a vital tool in helping children realise their full potential. Investing in children’s education and well-being is one of the most effective steps a country can take for its development.
By keeping children in school, the programme contributes to higher completion rates, which in turn fosters long-term economic improvement and helps lift communities out of poverty.
Furthermore, health and nutrition support, including school meals, provide an incentive for families to send their daughters to school and keep them enrolled.
This is especially important during adolescence, as it helps prevent early marriage and delays the onset of early pregnancies, issues that often perpetuate poverty and social exclusion for women.
Mr Kitema is a Communications and Public Relations Strategist
Many children are forced to take on laborious tasks from a young age just to secure a single meal.
School feeding programs not only alleviate this burden but also attract more children to school, offering them the promise of regular meals, thereby reducing dropout rates.
The home-grown school feeding initiative holds significant potential to stimulate demand for nutritious and diverse local foods, support stable agricultural markets, foster rural transformation, and generate employment within communities.