By Kellys Kaunda
HOW SUSTAINABLE IS THE SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAM?
This is the question posed by Dr. Aaron Chansa, the Executive Director of the National Action for Quality Education in Zambia, NAQEZ.
He raises questions of funding and logistical gaps.
Specifically, Dr. Chansa identified “challenges in meeting meal preparation costs and lack of sufficient cooking resources and some personnel responsible for preparing meals are not adequately supported”.
This is according to a story by Justina Matandiko of Phoenix News.
In the 70s when I started school, we had no school feeding program. Sometimes parents gave you two or five ngwee which you would use to buy something during school break.
Usually, there were people that brought all kinds of foodstuff to sell outside the school perimeter fence.
On independence day, Supaloaf, a State-owned baking company which my father worked for distributed rock buns (I hope this is the correct spelling) to primary and secondary schools in Kitwe.
Coca-Cola brought coke, Fanta and Sprite. The Dairy Produce Board brought milk and milk biscuits.
However, at one point, this activity abruptly stopped. Looking back, it’s obvious it couldn’t be sustained.
In boarding schools, it was only logical that the feeding program continued.
However, the quality of food was always bad. I was a day scholar but I saw what students ate.
Mostly, it was beans and cabbage. You can imagine for almost three months someone feeding on these two food items!
The poor performance of the Zambian economy over the years has adversely affected government’s ability to sustain some social programs – school-feeding program included.
But given it’s importance, raising questions regarding its sustainability is not intended to frustrate government efforts.
Instead, it’s to help sustain it by bringing to the attention of various stakeholders some of the gaps.
Innocently, government may not be aware of the gaps. Those that may want to step in and fill the gaps are not aware of the needs, too.
My repeated call to the media is that the importance of policy is not necessarily at the point of its announcement.
Rather, it’s at the point of the policy’s contact with its intended beneficiary.
In the case of the feeding program, go to the schools and observe how it plays out in real time.
A news item reported thus is more helpful in improving service delivery than media events organized by sources – typical public relations activities.
It is sustainable because it opens up business opportunities for farmers, suppliers, and others
You need to do some background research before coming to social media with wild speculation tainted with your malicious desire to see the UPND government fail.
Dr Musokotwane, our Minister of Finance, and his team publish the monthly activity of that Ministry. On their website. And on social media platforms such as Facebook. Very transparent and professionally led ministry. Unlike in the previous regime where someone’s child was gifted 79 vehicles. 23 properties. And a petrol filling station.
https://www.facebook.com/share/1DzR7MKAjf/
That failing, government has a spokesperson who can recruit the answers to your questions. It is only after putting in some due diligence that professional writers go public. And when they go public, they place reachable or traceable references to back up their views.
Yours is just nkani ya mu kachasu. Please pull up yowa g-strings. You are embarrassing yourself.
A well written article.
We have a Propagandist Government which thrives on Propaganda. Everything is Propaganda.
Meanwhile the media is too scared to report on what is happening on the ground…so we remain eating Propaganda.
In a school am knowledgeable about where my niece attends, parents were told to each pay K400 towards the Equipment for the Kitchen.. For the whole of last year, only about 5 parents managed to pay.
To date no single child has eaten any food at this school.
I can imagine what the situation is in other schools.
Again the government has announced the provision of Milk to Kindergarten Pupils… Meanwhile logistics are not in place. This is when the government is trying to enter into some PPP with milk suppliers. And the first term is closing in under 30 days.
But look at the Propaganda , the ” Salt Sana” empty noise! One would think the children are in a land of milk and honey.
The media, especially private media, please report on what is happening on the ground. You are the fourth estate. We can’t be eating Propaganda. The state Media is completely useless and at the fore front churning out Propaganda and misinformation.
You haven’t mentioned the school so this information shall be treated as propaganda too.
The feeding program is a good way of sharing the national cake.
Pay your taxes and the program will be sustained.
In my opinion, the School Feeding program will be sustainable only as long as HH remains in power. The moment he steps down, I believe everything will fall apart. The program will cease to exist, regardless of the political party in charge. HH is a wealthy man; I’ve heard that he doesn’t receive a salary and has everything he could want, except for an aircraft. He is in this position primarily to enhance his curriculum vitae (CV). Anyone caught abusing this program will likely face imprisonment. In Mkushi, some individuals with sticky fingers are already feeling the pressure. They are already tampering with this School Feeding program.
HH aims to distinguish himself from previous presidents and to prove his critics wrong. He wants to leave behind a strong economy when he ends his term in office.