Large number of schoolchildren cannot afford lunch

Oct 27, 2022 News

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– city teachers seeking donation to sustain feeding programme 

Kaieteur News – The government in January this year announced that some 85,773 nursery and primary school students across the country will benefit from a $2B national feeding programme but Kaieteur News learnt that the number of children who cannot afford lunch or breakfast to go to school is way higher than that.

To find out if this is indeed the case, reporters from this media house disguised as representatives of businesses and visited a number of secondary schools in the city not catered for in the government’s feeding programme – and what they found out was alarming.

A large number of students from the schools visited were skipping lunch because they could not afford it and there are some who would only see a meal when they get home at nights. At least this is according to the teachers of these schools who were found in the home economic labs preparing breakfast for these children.

They told the disguised reporters that they have decided to use their own resources to start a school feeding programme after learning that some of their students are studying on empty stomachs. A teacher from one of the city schools (name provided), said “They are secondary school students and would often time be ashamed to say they have not eaten but some would confide in their trusted and favourite teachers and others would be forced to say they had not eaten breakfast or lunch after fainting in the classrooms or during the morning assembly”.

Teachers would resort to giving them lunch money or sometimes even bringing lunch to school for them but after realising that there might be more children in the same situation, they decided to pool together their resources and start a mini breakfast programme. “At first, some were shy to come forward and collect food but after they see their classmates collecting, they started to collect too and the number has increased”, said another teacher (name provided).

The numbers have grown to such an extent that the resources of the teachers in these schools are insufficient to cater for all them and they are now seeking donors to up keep the initiative they have started.  One of the schools have already secured a donor to provide a few boxes of food but it is still not enough for all of the students in need. “We have someone who donates a few boxes of food everyday for lunch but we will still need things like eggs, milk, butter and so to go with some bread we have purchased”, said an employee from that school.

Based on statistics from the Ministry of Education, there are some 96 schools- including practical learning institutes- in Georgetown and Kaieteur News visited a number of them. Some do not have their own voluntary feeding programmes but in all of the schools visited, there are a large number of students who cannot afford lunch or breakfast.

In September last, the Minister of Education, Priya Manickchand, launched the National Breakfast Programme, which will provide a daily meal to Grade Six students along the coastal regions: Two, Three, Four, Five, Six and 10. Minister Manickchand had said during the launch, “We believe many parents can provide breakfast for their children but we also know a lot of children come to school without breakfast.” It is the State’s duty, she had said, to help children as far as finances allow.

Manickchand had added that the School Feeding Programme has since resulted in an increased attendance and enrollment at schools. The government is currently spending some $267M to fund its National Breakfast Programme this year for every Grade Six child on the coast while those in the hinterland will benefit from a separate feeding programme.  However, Kaieteur News has found out that despite government’s efforts to assist families by providing meals for children, the number currently benefitting is still meagre compared to the thousands- not only at the primary school level but even in secondary schools- who cannot afford a meal at school.

Skipping meals

Back in May this year, this newspaper reported that a Caribbean COVID-19 Food Security and Livelihoods Impact Survey which was launched by the Caribbean Community (CARICOM) to rapidly gather data on impacts to livelihoods, food security and access to markets had shown that Guyanese are adopting negative measures to cope with the ongoing difficulties associated with accessing food.

The survey was implemented by the World Food Programme with support from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) and four rounds of the survey have been completed since the beginning of the pandemic. It was reported that findings during the February 2022 survey highlighted that citizens are adopting negative coping strategies to make ends meet. “More people are skipping meals and eating less preferred foods compared to April 2020.” Lowest income households, it was said, were most likely to resort to negative coping strategies, with 94 percent reporting to have depleted savings, 64 percent reduced spending on other essential needs, and 52 percent sold their productive assets. “Food insecurity has further increased since April 2020. It is estimated that 58 percent of respondents from Guyana are moderately or severely food insecure which is higher than the regional average,” the survey found. The lowest income households have the highest severe food insecurity rates. While 58 percent of respondents continue to be worried about getting COVID-19, another 35 percent of citizens are also increasingly worried about meeting their food and other essential needs.

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