The Nation Newspaper

Tag: School feeding

  • Kaduna spends over N8bn on school feeding

    THE Kaduna State Government said on Friday that it spent more than N8 billion on school feeding within the first eight months of the programme in 2016.

    The state’s Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Andrew Nok, made the disclosure at the inauguration of an e-library at the Queen Amina College, Kaduna. The library was constructed and equipped by the Universal Basic Education Commission.

    Nok said that the price for feeding students in boarding schools has been increased from N50 per student per meal to N100, as part of efforts to ensure that students were well fed.

    “We are currently putting all the needed logistics in place to resume the feeding programme. “Under the arrangement, the Federal Government will feed students from primary one to three, while the state government will feed students from primary four to six, “he said. The state government began the school feeding programme in January 2016 at the cost of N1.1 billion monthly.

    It was also agreed that the Federal government would refund to the state 60 per cent of the amount spent on feeding primary one to three pupils. However, the programme was suspended after eight months, following the failure of the federal government to reimburse the state as agreed.

    The commissioner said that the state government was currently upgrading, renovating and transforming 15 secondary schools into complete boarding schools. He said some of the schools are, Rimi College Kaduna, Government College Kachia, Government College Saminaka, Government Girls College Zankwa and Government Girls College Kwai among others. “We will upgrade, renovate and equip the schools with latest laboratories equipment and modern technology with a view to achieving excellence in teaching and learning.

    He noted that the ongoing renovation in Queen Amina College will gulp N600 million, while furniture and beds with mattresses would cost N300 million and N150 million respectively across the 15 schools. Earlier, the Principal of the college, Hajiya Balkisu Ubangari explained that the e-library was constructed by UBEC to enhance teaching and learning in the school. She commended the state government for the laudable intervention in the school, adding that the effort would improve the quality of teaching and learning.

  • Fed Govt to start school feeding programme with 5.5 million pupils

    Fed Govt to start school feeding programme with 5.5 million pupils

    The Federal Government will begin its National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) in September with 5.5 million pupils, said the National Programme Manager, Mrs Abimbola Adesanmi.

     Ogun State Governor Ibikunle Amosun  described the NHGSFP as an initiative capable of stimulating the economy and combating unemployment.

    The governor and Mrs Adesanmi spoke yesterday at a two-day stakeholders’ workshop on the Ogun State Home Grown School Feeding Programme in Abeokuta.

    “This programme is like

    using one stone to kill several birds. Feeding primary school pupils in the country has the potential to turn around the economy,” Amosun said.

    He added: “It’s a well-thought out programme because the unemployed would be engaged. All value chains in the agricultural sector would be involved; poultry producers will sell; the meat sellers will sell their produce and the agriculture sector will generally get a boost. Agricultural produce that often gets spoilt would now be mopped up and more money will come into the purse of the average farmer.

    “The transport sector would equally be involved. They would convey the food to the schools. Youths would equally get employed. And I think this is a notice to youths, it’s time to work. You should not be going around asking for jobs again. You should key into this programme.

    “This programme will also make our children stronger. When you feed pupils from primary school, you are trying to ensure a generation of healthy youths.”

    Amosun said the programme would commence in the state in September, stressing that pupils in Primary 1 to 3 would kick-start the programme, while those in Primary 4 to 6 will be considered later.

    Amosun added that unlike other previous national programmes, the NHGSFP would be a practical one involving the three tiers of government.

    “It won’t be a solely Federal Government programme; all tiers of government would be involved. Even our people at the ward level would be involved,” he said.

    The governor explained that “we won’t bring anything from outside the ward the school is located. Everything will be localised. The foodstuff would be bought locally. The food vendors would be those from the wards. Nothing would come from outside the ward except those items that can’t be produced in that ward.”

    In a goodwill message at the event, the wife of the Governor, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, urged youths to key into the programme and embrace farming, stressing that there is a ready market for the end product.

    The State Focal Person for the programme and Ogun State Commissioner for Special Duties and Inter-governmental Affairs, Adeleke Adewolu,  said about 200, 000 pupils from 1,554 public primary schools would benefit from the programme in Ogun State.

  • School feeding: Aregbesola vindicated, says APC

    School feeding: Aregbesola vindicated, says APC

    The All Progressives Congress in Osun State has told critics of Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s investment in education, especially his feeding programme for pupils, to keep quiet, as the Federal Government has vindicated him on the project.

    The party said: “If the project is not strategic to human capital and socio-economic development, the Federal Government would not have adopted it for implementation on a national scale.

    “That the critics, some portfolio civil society groups and (unfortunately) some labour unions, were calling on Aregbesola to scrap the project, (‘so that funds will be released to pay workers’ is a measure of their superficial mindset,” APC said.

    Its Director of Publicity, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, who addressed reporters yesterday in Osogbo, drew attention to the magnitude of the impact of the project.

    He said it not only attracted more children to schools, but also gave jobs to thousands  in the agricultural and catering sectors.

    The APC spokesman referred reporters to the statement by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo of the Federal Government’s commitment to the school feeding programme, which he (Osinbajo) said would, among others, create 1.4 million jobs, increase food production by 530,000 metric tonnes annually and attract investment of N980 billion.

    The APC said to contemplate scrapping the project in Osun, as the critics suggested, was shallow and consistent with the low stuff of which the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members in the state were made.

    “What Aregbesola’s critics failed to appreciate,” the party said, “was that some of the best brains in the Southwest made the education policy the governor is implementing. At the head of the think tank was Prof. Wole Soyinka.

    “It is no surprise that the APC government of President Muhammadu Buhari has given national expression to what Aregbesola did in Osun.”

    Oyatomi said besides the other effects the project had for job creation and agricultural expansion, Osun recorded the highest enrolment figure of over 250,000 pupils because of the feeding project.

    He added that the programme  earned the governor commendation by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) and the British parliament, which invited him to share some of the ideas behind the project.