On the occasion of the African Day of School Feeding, the Ministry of Education has emphasized the government's commitment to the program, revealing that it has increased the budget from Frw 35billion in 2021/2022 to Frw 78.26billion in 2022/2023.

The aim is to support parents in providing nutritious meals for their children, even though the ministry says some are not fulfilling their responsibilities.

The African Day of School is an annual event led by the African Union that seeks to renew and scale up commitment of African countries to deliver home-grown school feeding programs, advance human capital development, and achieve the Sustainable Development Goals.

The African Union heads of State recognised the significant value of school feeding linked to local agriculture and created a specific school feeding model in January 2016. Since then, to promote school feeding programmes as a strategy to achieve the Sustainable Development Goals, African countries celebrate the African Day of School Feeding. This model connects local agricultural production to the purchase of food for schools, benefiting family farmers and children directly.

This year, at the national level, the day was celebrated at Ecole Primaire Muvandimwe in Murama Sector, Kayonza district on March 6, 2023 under the theme “Boosting Local Food Procurement Systems & Regional Value Chains: The Role of African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) for Sustained Home-grown School Feeding Programs and Improved Learning.”

Speaking at the event, Rose Baguma, Director General of Education Policy and Analysis at the Ministry, highlighted that the government provides 90 percent of the funding for the school feeding program, while the role of parents is only 10 per cent for pre-primary and primary levels. For secondary students, the government provides 15.7 per cent and parents contribute 84.7 per cent.

According to the Ministerial instructions on school fees harmonization in public and government aided schools, the parents contribute 975 Frw for pre-primary and primary, 19,500 Frw for day schools and 85,000 Frw for boarding schools each term.

Baguma noted that the program's uptake is still at about 72 percent, as some parents do not comply with their responsibilities.

She also acknowledged that some parents may not afford to contribute, but others fail to do so despite being able.

Baguma called for parents to contribute and utilise their farms to cultivate vegetables and fruits to support the program's success, encouraging schools to also purchase food locally, empowering smallholder farmers and benefiting the community.

In the fiscal year 2021/2022, the government built 2648 kitchens in primary, secondary, and TVET schools, and equipped them with 5296 stockpots.

According to the ministry, 317 additional kitchens are under construction in the 2022/2023 budget, and will be equipped with 763 stockpots. Additionally, 737 more stockpots will be provided toschools with an increase in the number of students.

In his remarks, the Governor of Eastern Province, CG Emmanuel Gasana, emphasized the importance of timely contributions from parents and the need to follow up on the implementation of the program.

He called on local governments to increase awareness of the program in collaboration with schools.

“We urge schools to purchase food commodities that are available in the district because it will help them obtain food at a reasonable price. We ask headteachers to utilize produce from the schools’ farms by cultivating vegetables and fruits,” he said.

Gasana also emphasized that having lunch is a fundamental and equal right for every student, and that the program aims to fight hunger among vulnerable families, improve the quality of education, and increase attendance rates.

Ahmareen Karim, Acting Country Director of the World Food Program, highlighted the close collaboration between the organization and the Rwandan government to ensure that children receive the nutrition they need to prevent stunting and improve human capital development.

WFP contributes for 140 schools in seven districts across the country.

She expressed appreciation for the government's support in providing operational guidelines for working with smallholder farmers to supply nutritious food to schools

The World Food Program is committed to working with the government and other stakeholders to ensure that children in Rwanda can reach their full potential.

Aziel Mutabazi, a village leader in Murama Sector, Kayonza District, encouraged parents to contribute to the school feeding program and praised the government's efforts to increase participation.

He credited the program with reducing dropouts and increasing student enthusiasm for learning.

Pascal Nshimiyimana, a student at Muvandimwe Primary School, shared his personal experience with the school feeding program.

Before the program, he would often go home for lunch and sometimes find that his family had not cooked yet.

He said that now, he can focus on his studies and has seen many fellow students return to school and achieve success in national examinations.

Ends.

Source: New Times