Region Five schools to benefit from school feeding pilot─ Grades I to II and Nursery School pupils to benefit from daily breakfast

Mar 17, 2019 News

Pupils in nine schools across the West Coast Berbice are identified for a pilot school feeding programme, scheduled to be launched by the Ministry of Education in Region Five, Mahaica-Berbice at the start of the next school term.
The pilot will provide free breakfast to children in Bath Primary and Nursery Schools in Bath Settlement, West Coast Berbice; Blairmont Nursery and Primary Schools at Blairmont, West Bank

DREO of Region 5, Sherwyn Wellington

Berbice; Ithaca Nursery and Primary schools at Ithaca Village, West Bank Berbice and Rosignol-Shieldstown and Liberty Nursery and Primary schools, Rosignol, West Bank Berbice.
Students in Grades I and 2 in the identified nursery schools will receive free breakfast meals.
The nine schools represent the first phase of the School Feeding Programme for schools in Region Five. The objective is to implement the pilot and monitor it before determining when the programme will be put into action in other nursery and primary schools in the region.
Each meal will comprise items from the foods rich in protein and carbohydrates, accompanied by a calcium drink and fresh fruit.

Deputy Regional Executive Officer of the Region 5, Sherwyn Wellington, disclosed that the regional administration will manage the programme.
The contracts for caterers for the school feeding programme will be awarded by the Regional Procurement and Tender Administration Board (RPTAB) while the Education Ministry will provide the funds for financing and managing the programme.
The ministry’s breakfast feeding programme was piloted in Georgetown in Region Four, Demerara-Mahaica and on the East Coast of Demerara and in Region Three, West Demerara-Essequibo Islands in 2016.
The programme is in keeping with Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Two, which calls for the eradication of hunger and malnutrition.
The objectives of the school feeding programme include building more community participation in schools and improving children’s human development outcomes, such as student enrolment and attendance, nutritional status and learning outcomes.