Many learners in the Eastern Cape are going hungry at school in spite of the National School Nutrition Programme.
The Department of Basic Education has a National School Nutrition Programme to provide learners with meals at schools. But some schools say the money they're receiving is not enough. Sometimes they get less than the subsidy because learners without birth certificates are not counted in the allocation.
Conradie said at schools she visits across the Eastern Cape, many can only serve small portions of pap. Sometimes schools give only a spoonful of food for a meal. Gift of the Givers is inundated with calls from schools for meat and vegetable donations to supplement their meals, she added.children who do not consume enough energy and nutrients are at risk of undernutrition, which has physical and intellectual effects.
That amount cannot cover sufficient food and the fuel needed to cook, both of which are expensive, she said.Breakfast for the approximately 160 learners is always a small amount of cereal, served without milk. Lunch two days of the week includes protein in the form of soup packs or pilchard. The other three days, there is no protein served, Dawedi said.
The learners get their meal at 10am: rice, pilchards and cabbage on Mondays and Wednesdays, sour milk on Tuesdays; rice, chicken and chakalaka on Thursdays; and samp and beans on Fridays. She says portions are too small, with just one spoonful of rice. The only day she gets enough food is Friday because many learners don't like the samp and beans.