Mps join midday meal drive, want districts to foot bill
Pupils wait for their share of lunch at a village primary school recently.
What you need to know:
The lawmakers argue that pupils cannot concentrate on studies, especially during the afternoon classes, without having a decent meal.
Legislators on Parliament’s Sectoral Committee on Education have weighed in on the campaign for school-going children to be provided a midday meal at school under the universal education programmes. A coalition of civil society actors started the campaign earlier this year arguing that providing an education on a rumbling stomach cannot result in meaningful learning.
Now MPs want local governments to pass and enforce by-laws to force parents to provide meals for their children at school. The government, concerned about the likely political implications, has been reluctant to take a clear position on the issue, especially where it would involve parents providing the meal through a financial contribution.
The government prefers physical food which many experts say has been found impractical yet the use of money might be interpreted as a re-introduction of payment under what is supposed to be a free government programme.
Negative impact on UPE scheme
The committee noted that lack of a clear feeding programme in UPE schools had negatively impacted on the scheme, causing massive drop-outs and absenteeism. “The committee recommends to government to impact upon local governments to make and enforce by-laws obliging parents to feed their school-going children as already stipulated in Section 5(2) of the Education Act 2008,” the committee recommended in its 43-page report.
Recently, Education Minister Jessica Alupo said Cabinet had already approved three ways through which pupils will be helped to get lunch at school. These include; allowing parents in urban areas to pay cash for meals at a sum agreed by school management, board of governors and the parents-teachers associations. For parents in rural areas, according to Ms Alupo, Cabinet recommended that contributions be made in kind - say maize, beans and thereafter parents mobilise themselves to prepare meals and the third approved method is feeding the vulnerable children like it is done in Karamoja with assistance from World Food Programme.
Legislators also want the ministry to carry out a study to scientifically establish the unit cost of delivering education per child. Although government sends Shs7,000 as capitation grant per child annually, schools have severally complained that they receive Shs6,800 after deducting bank charges. They also argue that the money is inadequate given the generally high cost of living in the country. “The committee reiterates the call for a review of the unit cost that is commensurate with inflationary rates,” adds the report.
The recommendations are contained in the parliamentary sectoral committee on education on the ministerial policy statement and budget estimates for 2012/2013 report. Committee chairperson Sylvia Namabidde presented the report before the House last week and if passed , such recommendations would be reflected in the final education budget.
Government introduced UPE in 1997 and a decade later implemented UPE to enable eligible primary school graduates enroll in tuition-free secondary and vocational training institutions. But both schemes are still seriously hampered by delayed releases of funds, congestion, and high student-to-teacher ratio and unclear feeding programme for both children and teachers in schools.
