What is in your child’s lunch kit?

Sep 26, 2008 Editorial

The efforts of the Ministry of Education to address health and nutritional concerns within the school system are highly commendable.

It had long been established that students who are properly nourished are able to sustain higher levels of concentration during school hours and as such are better able to maximize learning.

From as early as in the days of colonial Guyana, there was the practice of milk and biscuit distribution, aimed at supplementing the nutrition of the school population. This practice soon evaporated as economic circumstances became dire in an independent Guyana.

However, the importance of good nutrition and its relationship to improved levels of attention in the classroom were never lost on our educators. As such, in some hinterland schools, the feeding programme has been introduced.

Given that in some of these schools children sometimes have to walk or paddle miles to get to school, a task that would deplete their energy reserves, it was a most welcome development when this feeding programme was introduced.

It would be, however, prohibitively costly for this programme to be imitated in all schools, and this selective targeting of the neediest schools is most definitely the preferred option in terms of supplementing the nutritional needs of children.

These needs must first and foremost be met by parents. It would be asking too much of our educational system to have to guarantee better nutrition for our children, especially when there is an urgent need for greater attention to be concentrated on improving the quality of teaching within the schools. It would be asking too much for the Ministry of Education to do what parents should be doing.

While prices have gone through the roof and many parents are finding it difficult to make ends meet, we believe that by and large our parents in Guyana have always provided for their children.

We believe that the most pressing concern is not so much the lack of food for the children, but the type of food that is increasingly being consumed.

Sodas, snack foods and fast foods are increasingly finding their way into the lunch kits of our children.
These may ease hunger, but do not ensure either sustained energy levels or proper nutrition. As such, many children are being short-changed from within their own homes when they leave for school.

It is the duty of every parent to ensure that their children receive a balanced and full meal before leaving for school. It is also the responsibility of parents to ensure that lunch kits contain nutritious meals which would allow the child or children to make the most of his/her day.

With increased demands on their times, however, many parents neglect to pay attention to this important aspect of their child’s development, preferring in some instances to give their child money to purchase whatever that child wishes, without any regard for the need to ensure that the child gets a sound nutrition.

If education requires a cooperative effort of all stakeholders, then it is necessary that parents also play a role in ensuring that their children can get the most of the hours they spend in the classroom.

Ensuring that our children eat right, beginning at home, is one way in which parents can contribute towards the improvement in educational returns. We urge every parent to play their part in the education of their children.

The schools must perform their role, and must be held to high standards, otherwise there will be no improvements. But parents must also play their part in guaranteeing the nutrition and health of their children.