Free school feeding draws more pupils to Delta schools

Caterers feeding pupils in Delta State say there has been upsurge into public schools in the state. This is as the state government says that the school-feeding scheme has been a success despite challenges.

One of the caterers, Josephine Akanu from Ika South local council, who spoke with BusinessDay, lauded Governor Ifeanyi Okowa for accepting the programme to kick off in the state, just as she commended President Muhammadu Buhari for bringing the programme to Delta State.

Akanu, who has fed the children for a month, confessed, “It has empowered so many women and men. It has also encouraged pupils, parents. Now, you can see that new intakes (pupils) are more in government schools because of free meals. It has helped households; at least they are sure that once they come to school, they must be fed. It has also encouraged children to come to school daily.”

She went on: “We the caterers are happy because we have been empowered. At least, it will help us eat and our children will eat. I’ve been here for one month now and each of the caterers is paid every two weeks to enable them feed the children in the schools they are assigned to.”

Shimite Bello, executive secretary, Delta State Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (DEMSMA), said despite hiccups, the Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, which kicked off more than a month ago in primaries one to three in schools across the state had done excellently well.

The Ministry of Basic Education and caterers corroborated this fact as the state took a step further in sensitising stakeholders in the programme in Delta North Senatorial District.
Speaking with newsmen shortly after the sensitisation exercise held in Asaba, Bello said, “I think the programme has done excellently well. The whole essence of the first two weeks into the programme is to know the problems.”

She explained: “A lot of the women never went to school, so they don’t know break time; So, it is for them to know what time food should arrive, what time is break time, the time that children must eat and play. Then for them to have a structure follow the timetable and know the repercussion of not following the timetable. For us to know which children can afford to bring plates in the advent that we have not brought the plates; why they are eating with nylon bags and then what can we do with it?”

Continuing, she said the essence of the sensitisation exercise was “for them to be assured that not everybody (the caterers) got cleared not because they didn’t do their work. We needed to know how federal government makes these payments, then how on time they are. Then, know how the women are able to relate.
“Some of them have opened account for the first time. To go into the bank, a few of them were crying that they didn’t want to enter the security door in the bank. They had the problem they would be trapped inside. So, it is for us to hear all those experiences and all of that. “Everything is new for them; talking to the teachers who they couldn’t meet up with the head-teachers is new for them; going to the bank and getting alert, all of these was new; so, we know that there is just so much excitements but after the excitement has died down, they can focus and know that there is a time table.”

Bello said it was really important that the women follow instructions. The DEMSMA boss said efforts were on to get the rest cleared.

She said there was still need to continue to interact with the pupils and teachers because the caterers cannot manufacture money to feed them. “The only thing we can do is to really work fast to ensure all the children are eating.”

The commissioner for basic education, Chiedu Ebie represented by his special assistant (technical), Ernest Ossai has this to say: “It’s an experimental programme for us in this state because it is a new programme introduced to us by the federal government to compliment the state’s efforts at ensuring there is good health for the school children.”
Mercy Enoch, Asaba