Governor Mwangaza launches school meals, nutrition programme

Sep 30, 2023 - 17:06

Mwangaza poses with ECDE children during the launch of the Uji programme. (Photos by Dickson Mwiti).

Meru,

Saturday, September 30, 2023,

KNA by Dickson Mwiti

Enrolment in Early Childhood Development Education (ECDE) classes in Meru County is expected to increase after the launch of the school meals and nutrition programme by the county governor Kawira Mwangaza on Friday.

The programme will see all the 60,000 learners from 777 primary schools within the County get a cup of porridge on a daily basis from Monday to Friday.

During the launch held at the County headquarters, Governor Mwangaza, who issued an initial cheque of Sh23 million for the remainder of this term, said that the programme will cost Sh78 million every financial year.

She said the move will not only retain the young children in schools but also ensure that their nutrition is correct as per the World Health Organisation's (WHO) directives.

“Some children in the semi-arid parts of this County go to school on an empty stomach which makes it hard for them to remain in school. This initiative will ensure that more are retained in their respective schools and with the firm foundation of education at their early stages, the learners will also excel in their academics in future,” said Ms Mwangaza.

“The County government would be issuing money to specific schools to buy maize and finger millet for the porridge and it will be the prerogative of the already formed committees to know where they will buy the ingredients from,” said the Governor, recommending that the committees should consider giving priority to suppliers neighbouring the schools.

Mwangaza affirmed that the programme will be sustainable throughout her administration and beyond.

“We will partner with our parents in doing this and I want to assure them that we are committed to ensure its success. If anything, we will be adding food to the programme but not withdrawing it,” said Governor Mwangaza.

She said the county government would ensure the programme was seamless by deploying monitoring teams to all the schools to check the progress.

The governor called on well-wishers and other non-government organisations to join them in ensuring that children were retained in school by enhancing the feeding programme.

Other than the feeding programme, Ms Mwangaza issued a Sh 58 million cheque that will go into infrastructure development of Vocational Training Centres in the County.

Courtesy; KNA