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Scores to gain employment through school feeding programme – Minister Henry
Minister of Education, Ms. Nicolette Henry
According to the United Nations, there is evidence to show that school feeding programmes enhance enrollment in school and better educational outcomes. It was with this in mind that moves were made by Government, through the Ministry of Education, to expand its school feeding programme in the hinterland.
With admiration Minister of Education, Ms. Nicolette Henry spoke of this development during her contribution on Thursday to the 2018 National Budget Debate.
According to Henry, the APNU/AFC government took a conscious decision to increase from 110 to 202, the number of schools approved for the community-based school feeding programme in the hinterland.
“While this may not seem like much, depending on where you sit in this House, I can tell you for the ordinary people, especially the additional 30,000 students who are benefitting for the first time from school feeding – this is a big deal.”
The Minister said that this very initiative is one that will even create jobs within several communities, as it requires the hiring of some 100 women from within the target communities.
“Apart from job creation, I think it is very clear from all the literature that the construct of a good life speaks to a journey, not a destination and this journey…began in 2015 for thousands of citizens throughout this country,” said Henry. In fact, the Minister said that the implementation of a breakfast programme has had a similar impact on the coastland to the juice and biscuit [school feeding] initiative.
In recognition of this, Henry said that government will continue along this path and scale up this initiative as “we understand the benefits of the School Feeding Programme are far-reaching and evidence-based.”
Since catering for the nutritional needs of students will encourage attendance, Minister Henry in her presentation deduced that the likely outcome will be an increase in educational achievement. By extension, she posited, the public education system is expected to yield improved students’ potential future productivity and earnings, all of which are important to a good life.
But according to Minister Henry, Government is yet to ascertain the benefits of other initiatives.
“We are still to see the documented evidence of how the $10,000 ‘We Care Cash Voucher’ is a model or international best practice, and more importantly, how it is linked to enhancing enrollment in school or better yet improved educational outcomes. I’ll leave that there…” the Education Minister amplified.
As she continued her deliberations on evidence-based interventions, Minister Henry spoke of the Ministry’s launch of its first smart classroom, its introduction of a series of stakeholders’ engagements, and a move to award millions of dollars in presidential grants to several secondary schools. This, according to Henry, comes as part of the National Endowment for Science and Technology, called NEST.
This NEST initiative is one focused on three gaps, namely: equipping selected schools with science equipment and consumables, generating enthusiasm and participation in Science and Technology Education among students, and re-orienting science education for sustainability.
But according to the Education Minister, “As a responsible government, we have to make the difficult strategic decisions, and we will continue to find innovative solutions to close the gaps and reduce the disparities in education.”
She continued, “For us on this side of the house, every child matters, and it is for that reason that we have among other things commissioned buses, boats and bicycles in some of our most disadvantaged communities like the Pomeroon, Baracara, River View, Bartica and Moraikabai where our children were at greatest risk of being left behind.”
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