School feeding programme to resume
Johannesburg – The Equal Education and the Department of Basic Education have announced that children who previously qualified for the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) will receive school meals or food parcels when schools reopen.
This was after civil rights activists raised concerns over the discontinuation of the NSNP during the lockdown period.
Equal Education spokesperson Leanne Jansen said nine million children ordinarily benefit from school feeding schemes, which for some is their only guaranteed meal for the day.
“The national lockdown has deepened food insecurity for South Africans across the country. This has had particularly severe implications for the wellbeing and development of children, who are guaranteed the right to basic nutrition under section 28 (1) (c) of the constitution,” Jansen said.
The Department of Basic Education said provincial education departments would be responsible for developing appropriate mechanisms for the collection or delivery of meals and food parcels to the schools. This is expected to include measures such as staggered collection times and social distancing protocols to ensure the safety of pupils from Covid-19 infection.
