With thousands of pupils relying on the school feeding scheme for a meal a day, more and more children in the province are collecting food even on days when they do not have classes.
This is according to provincial education department spokesperson Bronagh Hammond, in light of a recent survey by advocacy group Equal Education (EE), which found that in five provinces, 71% of children on a rotating timetable (only attending school on some days and remaining at home on others) went hungry when they were not at school.
“The Western Cape Education Department has informed all schools that every child on the scheme, regardless of whether they are attending school that day or not, should be afforded the opportunity to receive a meal,” Hammond said.
EE surveyed 125 pupils from five provinces to find out whether they received meals on days they were not at school. The findings were released this week.
In the Western Cape 28 pupils from eight schools were surveyed, and it was found that 20 of them were attending school on some days only. Nineteen of the 20 were not receiving a meal on days they did not have to be at school.
They have written to Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga, asking whether a plan exists to ensure that the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) continues to be rolled out should South Africa experience a second wave of Covid-19 infections.
They said a court-ordered progress report from the Department of Basic Education (DBE) showed that nearly 2 million learners were not receiving food.The DBE did not respond to requests for comment yesterday.
In referencing a North Gauteng High Court order which found that provinces must roll out the NSNP to all eligible children, Hammond said more and more pupils were getting meals, whether they were attending school that day or not.
Khayelitsha School Governing Body Forum chairperson, Thokozani Ncayiyana, said they were happy about the feeding programme.
“It’s going well with the NSNP. The thing that we are concerned about is that there are many children that need to be fed, and not enough volunteers to help feed them.”