The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has allocated R9.8-billion to the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) for the 2023/2024 financial year. Still, the principal of a primary school in Makhanda is struggling to put food on the plates of learners with the current budget allocation of just R3.05 per child. The principal spends a third of her time researching the cheapest food options to buy to make daily meals for their learners. The allocation per learner for one daily meal for the 2023/24 financial year is R3.05 for primary schools, R3.65 for secondary schools, R7.35 for rural school learners, and 59 cents for breakfast for all schools. The principal says the breakfast allocation per learner is only enough to give learners a half cup of instant porridge in the mornings. The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) was set up by the government to “address hunger, malnutrition and micronutrient deficiencies in learners”, but the meal plan has not kept up with inflation.
The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) is a model provincial education departments use to provide daily meals to their learners. Schools in the Eastern Cape follow this “decentralised” model, while schools in Gauteng, KwaZulu-Natal, Limpopo, Mpumalanga, and the Western Cape follow the centralised model. In April this year, nutrition challenges at hundreds of schools across the KwaZulu-Natal made headlines. Equal Education researcher Stacey Jacobs reported that many schools in the Eastern Cape received funding for meals for the second term late due to “administrative blunders”. The Eastern Cape education department is unaware of any formal complaints by schools struggling to implement the approved feeding menu.
GroundUp sent questions to the national Department of Basic Education on whether all schools in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape have been able to resume the NSNP adequately. Elijah Mhlanga replied that the DBE does not micromanage the programme to this extent, but this information is available at the provincial level.
Article originally published by groundup.org.za by Liezl Human
