Cape Town - The emergency school feeding programme in the province is under scrutiny, after thousands of pupils were fed by the Education Department last week, amid the coronavirus outbreak.
It was estimated that 100000 pupils were fed from Wednesday last week, as principals, school governing bodies, volunteers and food handlers all came out to assist in the “special” humanitarian programme, funded through the provincial Treasury.
Safety measures were communicated to schools before feeding began, including ensuring that venues used met the required safety standards, that all work surfaces were clean and sterilised, and that food handlers and staff were briefed on Covid-19 safety.
According to the department, pupils were required to queue 1.5m apart, were not allowed to eat at the school and were encouraged to go straight to their homes. Feeding was staggered at some schools throughout the day to avoid congestion.
Parliament’s Portfolio Committee on Basic Education chairperson, Bongiwe Mbinqo-Gigaba, said she was concerned about reports in which Education MEC Debbie Schäfer and Premier Alan Winde were allegedly quoted as saying they were continuing with the National Food Nutrition Programme despite President Cyril Ramaphosa having declared a national lockdown on schools.
Mbinqo-Gigaba said she had been receiving calls as members of the public had raised concerns regarding social distancing and mixed messages in a province that has recorded the second-highest number of Covid-19 infections.
“We have the greatest of empathy with those less fortunate. But the health of our nation is also at stake and therefore assisting families in need, as part of the comprehensive country’s plan, is now not the responsibility of the Education Department,” she said.
SA Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) provincial secretary Jonavon Rustin said the union was equally anxious that working-class pupils and their families did not have access to food during this lockdown period.
However, he said the union believed that the plan by the Western Cape government to feed the pupils in schools would defeat attempts to curb the spread of Covid-19 and put the lives of vulnerable working-class pupils at risk.
Schäfer said it was unfortunate that Sadtu had decided to attack their humanitarian mission to feed hungry children.
“It shows that they're out of touch with what's happening on the ground. We've had such an overwhelmingly positive response to our initiative, after weeks of requests from desperate communities, that I can't understand how any organisation can oppose this.”
She said it was important to be clear on the facts of the programme, and that there was no “one-size-fits-all” plan being rolled out. “Each school is unique, and that's why the education districts are working with school principals to develop a plan that suits their school and pupils the best.
“Second, we've issued detailed protocols to schools for the implementation of this essential work to ensure that social distancing is maintained and that our pupils and staff are kept safe,” Schäfer said.
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