'Parents not doing enough to ensure school feeding'

PIC: Pupils of Mutungo Parents School-interact with Mutekanga and Fresh Dairy officials. Photo by Wilson Manishimwe

Parents are not doing their work in ensuring that their children are fed at school, education ministry's top official has said.

George Mutekanga, the assistant commissioner, for private schools at the ministry of education said most  parents especially those in government-aided schools think school feeding should be done by the Government which is not the case.

"As a country, we are still grappling with school feeding. When the Government started Universal Primary Education (UPE) in 1997, people thought that because UPE was free, even school feeding was free which is wrong," he stated.

Mutekanga said this during the commissioning of a two-class room block for Mutungo Parents School donated to by Fresh Dairy. He said feeding children is the role of parents, arguing that each stakeholder in education has a role to play.

"The Government pays teachers and provides teaching materials and parents should provide meals for their children, provide school uniforms and education materials.

Parents should not stop at producing children and taking them to school but rather make sure that they get food," he said.

He hailed Fresh Dairy for the donation, saying very few companies put aside resources to give back to communities.

Marketing Manager, Fresh Dairy emphasised taking yoghurt, saying it summarises all the provisions of a  balanced diet.

The donation follows the school's win in the 2018 Fresh Dairy Programme, which according Vincent Omoth, the Fresh Dairy Marketing Manager, was aimed at sensitising children on nutrition with a preference towards the consumption of yoghurt.