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The school feeding programme maintained until further notice
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The school feeding programme maintained until further notice
One more budgetary measure that government has accepted to review under public pressure : after the tax on lump sums and exam subsidies, it is now the primary school feeding programme which is being revised. Even though the government has not totally changed its mind, it has accepted to adopt a less radical stand. The method of distribution will probably not be the same but it will go on until further notice.
The end of the programme, scheduled to take effect three days after the budget, was finally supposed to occur last Friday after primary schools claimed they could not implement such a strict measure with such a short deadline. But, faced with a dilemma, the government finally decided it would a be better solution to maintain the bread distribution programme while targeting the children eligible for it.
All stakeholders of the primary education sector actually agree that there has been too much waste with the school-feeding programme so far with Rs 26 million spent last year for this item. It is true that some children bring their own bread to school and that they don?t really need the free bread. However, it can?t be ignored that some children really rely on this bread to as their main meal. Therefore it was considered unfair that the government had unilaterally decided to stop providing bread to all school children without making any distinction between them.
Making sure no child is penalised</B>
So, for the time being, the situation will remain as it has always been to make sure no child is penalised. This is the conclusion the ministry of Education reached after a meeting with the ministry of Social Security, the Government Teachers? Union (GTU), the Bureau of Catholic Education and the Hindu Education Authority among others.
But the government is planning a new move in the near future: they will be sending a form to all parents asking whether they want their children to get free bread at school or not.
This proposal comes from the president of the Government Teachers? Union (GTU), Vinod Seegum. Even though he is aware his solution might not be the perfect one ? there is still an opportunity for abuse on the parents? side ? he believes it is ?the lesser of two evils?.
However, the programme will not be modified in ZEP schools. Free bread is part of the philosophy in these schools and it is out of question to change it ? now or later.
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