The Gatanga National Government – Constituency Development Fund (NG-CDF) has launched a free feeding programme with an aim of boosting academic performance in local public primary schools.
In a programme dubbed Dishi ya Wakili Tap to Eat, the local NG-CDF has partnered with Food 4-Education organization to offer free lunch to thousands of school-going children.
Parents will be required to pay only Sh 20 daily for his or her child to get lunch since the NGO and the NG-CDF will top up the extra cost.
Every pupil enlisted in the programme will be issued with a wristband that will be scanned before they are served their lunch. The free feeding programme is earmarked to be implemented in all 87 public primary schools within Gatanga Constituency.
“Already the programme has been rolled out in 60 schools and in the near future, all the public primary schools in Gatanga will benefit from the feeding programme,” said the area MP, Edward Muriu during the launch of the programme at Ngaatho primary school on Monday.
According to the MP, hunger has been a major factor hindering good academic performance for many learners who struggle to focus on studying while making do on an empty stomach.
“It has been a big challenge for learners to concentrate on their studies when they are hungry. This programme aims to ensure parents only part with small amounts of money as their children access well prepared meals in their schools,” noted Muriu.
He added that the NG-CDF has continued to improve and renovate school infrastructure but the issue of hunger has remained a big challenge to good academic performance.
Muriu said parents can load as much money as possible into the given paybill number using their phone numbers as the account and that they then get a text message when the funds get too low.
The Food 4-Education organization has established 22 centralized kitchens in the constituency through which the meals are prepared before being distributed to the rest of the schools and hired workers, including 52 riders and cooks.
“My issue was that we have for a long time provided meals for secondary school students who are significantly older while neglecting primary school pupils who need it the most,” said the legislator, confirming that all 87 primary schools will be covered by the end of the year.
Muriu expressed confidence that the constituency’s academic performance will greatly improve as learners will be able to better focus on learning.
“We have agreed on the menu that will include rice with a protein such as ndengu or beans and vegetables. We plan to work on this programme for about 10 years. We hope by then, the government will have made plans to feed learners to relieve parents of the burden,” he added.
The organization’s programme assistant in Murang’a County, Elton Albert Nyangoka, hailed the initiative, saying it has helped many learners to improve in their studies.
The NGO, he said, provides meals for free for two days to learners and teachers as a free sample before the learners start paying for it and added that they are then provided with a fruit every Wednesday.
Nyangoka, however, expressed concern that some parents will still struggle to pay for the meals due to financial constraints.
“In many schools, especially in Ithanga/Kakuzi Sub County that is largely semi-arid, about 30 percent of learners are unable to pay the Sh20 daily charge.
“As an organization, we have a programme that identifies about 10 percent of the vulnerable learners and provides them with the meals for free but that means that 20 percent of them are left struggling,” he said, appealing to well-wishers to come in and help feed the disadvantaged learners.
The organization currently feeds over 600,000 learners daily in 10 counties that include Murang’a, Kiambu, Kisumu, Nakuru, Uasin Gishu, Kakamega, Mombasa, Homabay, Embu and Siaya, and aims at expanding the coverage to millions of children by 2027.
According to Nyangoka, the programme has helped create jobs for 170 riders, 109 cooks and 659 servers who work in the 55 kitchens established in Murang’a County, benefiting 658 ECDE centres.
He appealed to well-wishers for support in terms of provision of clean water for preparation of the food and better paved roads to facilitate ferrying of the food from the centralized kitchens to schools.
By Bernard Munyao
