Petrina Francis, Staff Reporter
( L - R ) Holness, Barclay
The Jamaica Teachers' Association (JTA) wants the Government to allocate more money to the National School Feeding Programme in order to improve the nutritional needs of the nation's children.
According to JTA President, Ena Barclay, nutrition played a crucial role in a child's life and it was important that students were properly fed.
"The School Feeding Programme is a step in the right direction but we need to have the programme strengthened so that children can have it five days for the week," Mrs. Barclay told The Gleaner yesterday.
Some children have complained about the quality of the food they receive at school. Mrs. Barclay said she had heard of the complaints and agreed with some of them.
"But, it has helped some students who would otherwise have no lunch," the JTA boss said.
"If they (the Government) could help children to get one good cooked meal, it would be more meaningful than the juice and cake or bun," Mrs. Barclay said.
Money not enough
She noted that schools received money to prepare meals for students under the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education, but the amount of money given is not enough for students to get a cooked meal every day.
Andrew Holness, Minister of Education, said yesterday that his office was reviewing the nutrition policy in schools and would also be taking a closer look at Nutritional Products Limited.
The Ministry of Education allocated $1 billion to the School Feeding Programme for the 2007-2008 academic year.
There are two components to the programme - the traditional cooked lunch and the nutribun and milk/drink component - under which thousands of students at primary, all-age, basic, and selected high schools are provided with a nutritious meal each day.
Under the traditional component of the programme, some 636 schools receive vegetable oil, long-grain white rice, cornmeal, canned mackerel, canned beef and flour to provide lunches for 175,000 students, in addition to a feeding grant of $350 for each student. In addition to the commodities, students at the basic school level receive $250.
petrina.francis@gleanerjm.com
