Govt Targets 10 million Children for School Meals Programme
By 2030, the government is intent on providing school meals to more than 10 million students through the school meals program.
Ezekiel Machogu, the cabinet secretary for education, made this announcement at a reception that Mr. William Asiko, vice president of the Rockefeller Foundation’s Africa Region Office, hosted.
The CS added that the government has increased the national budget for vulnerable children in ASAL areas, urban informal settlements, and food-insecure households in Kenya from Ksh 2 billion to Ksh 5 billion.
Mr. Asiko stated that the foundation will assist the government in feeding the 4 million students and, in partnership with other organizations, will assist the government in increasing the objective to 10 million students within the next five years.
The program has proven to be a valuable strategy for reaching marginalized and vulnerable communities and addressing educational disparities.
In addition to other senior Ministry officials, Dr. Belio Kipsang, the Principal Secretary for Basic Education, and Mr. Yusuf Harun, the Chief Executive Officer of the National Council for Nomadic Education in Kenya (NACONEK), were present.
School Meals Programme kitchens in Nairobi are 90% complete
The “Dishi na County” school feeding program in Nairobi County acquires momentum.
According to a statement from the Governor’s Office, ten central facilities for the School Feeding Program are nearing completion.
The statement released on Sunday reads, “Construction of the 10 central kitchens is in its final stages, with the majority of them over 90 percent complete.”
The ten facilities are situated in the sub-counties of Dagoretti North, Embakasi Central, Embakasi South, Kasarani, Kibra, Makadara, Starehe, Roysambu, Ruaraka, and Westlands.
Baba Dogo Primary School, Bidii Primary School, Kwa Njenga Primary, Farasi Lane Primary, Muthangari Primary, Kayole One Primary, Njiru Primary, Toi Primary, Roysambu Primary, and Racecourse Primary are currently constructing these facilities.
The ultramodern, state-of-the-art Industrial Area mega kitchen will provide a minimum of 60,000 platters per day to schools that may experience meal shortages.
The construction phase has employed over 200 individuals, including women and individuals with disabilities.
As the construction of ten central kitchens is nearing completion, the county will receive them the following week.
During the inauguration in June, Nairobi Governor Johnson Sakaja stated, “10 kitchens in 10 weeks”, with the first meal scheduled to be served on the first day of the third term this month.
According to Sakaja, it will cost Sh5 for schoolchildren in Nairobi’s public and ECDE institutions to receive free meals during the upcoming fiscal year 2023-24.
This will assist parents, keep children in school, and increase enrollment and progression to higher education institutions in public primary schools and early childhood development centers across 17 sub-counties in Nairobi.
Sakaja stated that the undertaking was a realization of a long-held dream.
This, he said, will ensure that all children in public primary institutions and public Early Childhood Development centers receive a daily, nutritionally balanced hot meal.
In his first budget for Fiscal Year 2023-2024, he allocated Sh1.2 billion to the nutrition program.
In addition, Sh 500 million was allocated for the construction of seven additional kitchens, and the remainder was used to subsidize the cost of a plate for each child.
Governor Sakaja signed an Intergovernmental Partnership Agreement with the National government last month to implement a school meal program in Nairobi.
The Sh1.7 billion agreement outlines the parties’ understanding regarding the implementation of the school meals program in Nairobi’s public primary institutions.
The governor and Education CS Ezekiel Machogu signed the agreement in the presence of Treasury CS Njuguna Ndung’u.
The agreement went into effect on July 17 and is valid for three years.
Kiambu ECDE learners get eggs and porridge every day in School Meals Programme.
More than 35,000 Early Childhood Development and Education (ECDE) students in Kiambu will now receive a bowl of nutritious porridge and an egg each day at school, courtesy of the county government’s school nutrition program.
The program introduced by Governor Kimani Wamatangi targets the 524 ECDE centres that house 36,524 students in an effort to improve child nutrition, increase enrollment, and retain students in school.
“Our objective is to keep students in school. Some children are unable to concentrate in class because they are unable to receive a nutritious meal at home. The children will receive nutritious porridge, which will be supplemented with an egg,’ said Wamatangi.
Wamatangi stated that in order for the program to be effective, the Department of Education enshrined it in the ECDE law, which is currently awaiting approval by the county assembly.
“We have presented the ECDE bill to the county assembly to be passed, where we have included the feeding program stating that from now on, it will be law and required that every child in an ECDE center receive porridge, an egg, and any other food while in school,” Wamatangi said.
He stated that the county government will also collaborate with the ECDE centers that have a feeding program in place.
“We will not cease feeding programs at existing centers; rather, we will collaborate with them,” he said.
“I also intend to have a conversation with all private ECDE providers to determine how we can include those without a feeding program in this initiative.”
He also stated that he has revamped the county’s bursary fund and plans to increase it to Sh500 million from Sh300 million in order to reach more needy students.
MCA Ting’ang’a ward Lawrence Mwaura, who is also the chairman of the Education Committee of the county assembly, asserted that the feeding program will not be eliminated by subsequent administrations once it becomes law.
Mwaura stated, “The assembly will approve the feeding program, and this means that our children will be well-fed going forward.”
As part of our economic empowerment program, uji flour will be procured from established producers to ensure quality, and the county government will obtain eggs from farmers close ECDE facilities.
In addition, the governor announced that his administration has begun building 180 ECDE centers with twin classrooms to accommodate PPI and PP2, an office for instructors, an ablution block, and a play area for children, as well as renovating the existing ones.
To keep teachers motivated, he stated that the salary of ECDE teachers will be reevaluated, with the national government contributing to half the salary and the county government covering the other half.
Govt Targets 10 million Children for School Meals Programme