Education PS Belio Kipsang, Cabinet secretaries Mwangi Kiunjuri
(Agriculture) and Amina Mohamed (Education) during the launch of
national school meals and nutrition strategy at Safari Park Hotel in
Nairobi on May 9, 2018. PHOTO | ANTHONY OMUYA | NATION MEDIA GROUP
The government has released Sh16 billion to primary and
secondary schools as capitation for this term, Education Cabinet
Secretary Amina Mohamed has said.
Of
the amount, Sh12.5 billion has been sent to secondary schools to
support free day secondary education while Sh3.5 billion has been
disbursed to primary schools. Ms Mohamed asked schools to use the funds
prudently.
The Cabinet
secretary, who was speaking during the launch of national school meals
and nutrition strategy at Safari Park Hotel in Nairobi, also asked
schools not to overburden parents with extra charges.
She
said the ministry was aware of the charges schools were demanding from
parents for provision of lunch to students and vowed to ensure the
programme is streamlined.
At
the same time, Ms Mohamed said the World Food Programme is supporting
500,000 children in the arid counties of Mandela, Wajir, Garissa and
Turkana as well as Nairobi slums using “a mix of cash and in-kind food
assistance”.
SUSTAINABLITY
“As
part of the sustainability strategy, the government is planning to take
over the whole feeding programme from WFP by the end of June. However,
it is expected that WFP will continue to offer technical and material
support when need arises,” she said.
She said the government requires Sh3.45 billion to support all the children under the programme.
“However,
since the ministry’s allocation for the next financial year is expected
to stand at Sh2.45 billion, I will initiate consultations with the
National Treasury with a view to seeking additional funds to bridge the
shortfall.
“This will enable us
to fully meet the needs of the two million children who will be put
under the programme when the government fully takes over the programme
starting from July 1, 2018,” said the CS.
MAJOR BENEFITS
She
said global reports on health and nutrition interventions in schools
reveal major “benefits for school achievement, employment and economic
growth”.
“Students who received
school meals scored higher in the KCPE exam by about seven per cent
points than those without. Additionally, girls who received school meals
finished primary school at a higher rate than those who did not, and
boys who received school meals entered secondary school at a 10 per cent
higher rate than those without,” she said.
At
the same time, Agriculture CS Mwangi Kiunjuri said the ministry had
acquired Sh10 billion equipment to support farming in schools and other
areas.
Mr Kiunjuri said schools
would be provided with drip irrigation equipment and water pans to
support food production in the institutions under the programme.
FEEDING PROGRAMME
Health CS Sicily Kariuki said the school feeding programme would ensure that pupils are healthy.
She said one out of four children under the age of five in the country are stunted due to poor nutrition.
WFP
country director Annalisa Conte said the organisation would hand over
provision of meals to counties by June. “We have been working on
arrangements for this with the Director of Basic Education and the
school meals team to ensure a smooth transition. We would like to mark
the event with a ceremony mid-year,” said Ms Conte.
She added that the hand-over of the programme did not mean that WFP “is vacating the school feeding arena”.
“WFP
will remain a key partner to assist the ministry to achieve its Vision
2030 at both national level and county levels, both as a partner that
can support the government lead on service delivery and as a provider of
technical guidance to realise the objectives outlined in the new
strategy,” she said.
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