Will the new food bill solve the UPE children’s feeding question?
Jul 15, 2008
IT started as an adventure and then turned into a habit. By Primary six, Kayebe, a brilliant pupil, could not attend a full day of school. He would leave the Church of Uganda UPE school every lunch time to rummage through old women’s gardens for jackfruit or mangoes to eat.
By Francis Kagolo
IT started as an adventure and then turned into a habit. By Primary six, Kayebe, a brilliant pupil, could not attend a full day of school. He would leave the Church of Uganda UPE school every lunch time to rummage through old women’s gardens for jackfruit or mangoes to eat.
“My grandmother could not afford two meals a day. I always ate food once a day at 5:00pm,†he says. “I tried to stay at school for the afternoon but because of hunger, I would always sleep through the lessons.â€
Kayebe dropped out of school in P.6 and now cleans shoes on one of Kampala’s streets. According to him, anyone who completes school in Uganda, to become a professional, is to be lauded.
“Teachers beat you for late coming, for sleeping in class, for asking for a short call. How can you explain to such a teacher that you had no supper? So I quit, I have no regrets because I can feed myself now,†he says.
Poor records
A 2005 National Assessment of Progress in Education showed that of the pupils who joined P.1 at the start of Universal Primary Education in 1997, only 22% sat for Primary Leaving Examinations in 2003.
Education officials blamed this partly on the lack of school meals, challenging headteachers to start charging fees for lunch. President Yoweri Museveni, however, barred schools from charging the fees, fearing that more pupils would then be locked out for failure to pay. Parents, he said, had to pack lunch for their children.
This, however, has not worked. Children neither carry food, nor has the Government provided food to schools.
A 2005 Participatory Poverty Assessment report revealed that many parents had turned away pupils from schools because they could not afford lunch fees.
New Bill in offing
All this may stop if a new bill to be tabled in Parliament achieves its objective. The Food and Nutrition Bill 2008, which has been drafted by the agriculture ministry, seeks to prosecute parents who do not provide children with adequate food. On conviction, they are to be jailed for six months or fined sh240,000.
“Children have a right to have regular, permanent and free access, at all times, to quantitatively and qualitatively adequate, sufficient and safe food,†the Bill stipulates. Section 8 (1) (b) says: “A head of a household shall provide feeding for children in primary school as required under the Education Act, 2008,†while section 8 (2) asserts: “A head of a homestead or household who contravenes this commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine of not less than twelve currency points or a term of imprisonment of six months, or both.â€
Addressing journalists at the Media Centre in Kampala, the fisheries state minister, Fred Mukisa, said the Bill will guarantee food security.
“The right to food is a legal obligation,†he said, noting that children should have three balanced meals a day.
Aggrey Kibenge, the education ministry spokesperson, says the Bill is in line with the UPE policy. “The policy stipulates roles for different stakeholders. Parents are supposed to feed the children. A parent who doesn’t feed his child is very irresponsible,†he says.
What optimists say
Experts are optimistic the Bill will improve the UPE scheme. Grace Namusisi, a tutor at Kibuli Primary Teachers’ College, says: “Once parents are forced to provide food to the children, many pupils will stay in school. When the food problem is dealt with, pupils will enjoy staying in schools. Access to schools and completion will improve.†She explained that due to underfeeding, pupils were susceptible to numerous diseases, “but since the Bill is trying to address this, children’s health is likely to improve.†Namusisi adds: “A hungry child cannot comprehend what is taught. This is what has been affecting academic performance in UPE schools. With food security, the children will settle, read and pass highly.â€
Joseph Nsereko, an agro-business consultant, hopes the Bill will address malnutrition in schools. “Underfeeding directly affects children’s academic performance. With the Bill, we are envisaging an improvement in the performance of UPE schools.†Nsereko, who was also part of the team that drafted the Bill, explains that the Bill requires the Government to set up national food reserves and to provide food to vulnerable persons. The vulnerable, according to the Bill, include infants, children, school-going children, victims of conflict, and marginalised populations in urban areas. “We expect the Bill to bring about a great improvement in the academic performance of schools,†he observes.
Some are sceptical
Godfrey Bahiigwa, the director of the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture, notes that a heavy load lies on the institutions responsible for implementing the law. “They have to develop effective measures to make it operational.â€
However, critics question the viability of this Bill, citing the six-month jail punishment and the sh240,000 fine to offending parents. Edmond Ssegujja, a member of the Kampala District Service Commission, says the Bill is too emotional to be practical. “Imprisoning parents is an emotional solution. If you imprison the parent because there is no food at home, who will then feed the children?†Although noting that some parents were just reckless, Ssegujja urged the Government to first study the cause of the problem. “Famine and poverty are a general problem. If parents can’t eat two meals a day, how can they feed the children adequately?â€
The 2005/2006 Uganda National Household Survey discovered that 8% of households hardly had a meal a day.
Bundibugyo Woman MP Jane Alisemera says the Bill only focuses on food, yet parents pay school fees, provide medical care and childhood development. “Some parts of Uganda, like the north and Karamoja in the north-eastern region, are affected by the dry spell. How do you jail such people when they can’t produce enough food?â€
She noted that this would create an extra burden on other people who will be required to cater for children when their parents are jailed and that many would fear to take care of orphans, which will in turn deny them a chance of studying.
IT started as an adventure and then turned into a habit. By Primary six, Kayebe, a brilliant pupil, could not attend a full day of school. He would leave the Church of Uganda UPE school every lunch time to rummage through old women’s gardens for jackfruit or mangoes to eat.
“My grandmother could not afford two meals a day. I always ate food once a day at 5:00pm,†he says. “I tried to stay at school for the afternoon but because of hunger, I would always sleep through the lessons.â€
Kayebe dropped out of school in P.6 and now cleans shoes on one of Kampala’s streets. According to him, anyone who completes school in Uganda, to become a professional, is to be lauded.
“Teachers beat you for late coming, for sleeping in class, for asking for a short call. How can you explain to such a teacher that you had no supper? So I quit, I have no regrets because I can feed myself now,†he says.
Poor records
A 2005 National Assessment of Progress in Education showed that of the pupils who joined P.1 at the start of Universal Primary Education in 1997, only 22% sat for Primary Leaving Examinations in 2003.
Education officials blamed this partly on the lack of school meals, challenging headteachers to start charging fees for lunch. President Yoweri Museveni, however, barred schools from charging the fees, fearing that more pupils would then be locked out for failure to pay. Parents, he said, had to pack lunch for their children.
This, however, has not worked. Children neither carry food, nor has the Government provided food to schools.
A 2005 Participatory Poverty Assessment report revealed that many parents had turned away pupils from schools because they could not afford lunch fees.
New Bill in offing
All this may stop if a new bill to be tabled in Parliament achieves its objective. The Food and Nutrition Bill 2008, which has been drafted by the agriculture ministry, seeks to prosecute parents who do not provide children with adequate food. On conviction, they are to be jailed for six months or fined sh240,000.
“Children have a right to have regular, permanent and free access, at all times, to quantitatively and qualitatively adequate, sufficient and safe food,†the Bill stipulates. Section 8 (1) (b) says: “A head of a household shall provide feeding for children in primary school as required under the Education Act, 2008,†while section 8 (2) asserts: “A head of a homestead or household who contravenes this commits an offence and shall, on conviction, be liable to a fine of not less than twelve currency points or a term of imprisonment of six months, or both.â€
Addressing journalists at the Media Centre in Kampala, the fisheries state minister, Fred Mukisa, said the Bill will guarantee food security.
“The right to food is a legal obligation,†he said, noting that children should have three balanced meals a day.
Aggrey Kibenge, the education ministry spokesperson, says the Bill is in line with the UPE policy. “The policy stipulates roles for different stakeholders. Parents are supposed to feed the children. A parent who doesn’t feed his child is very irresponsible,†he says.
What optimists say
Experts are optimistic the Bill will improve the UPE scheme. Grace Namusisi, a tutor at Kibuli Primary Teachers’ College, says: “Once parents are forced to provide food to the children, many pupils will stay in school. When the food problem is dealt with, pupils will enjoy staying in schools. Access to schools and completion will improve.†She explained that due to underfeeding, pupils were susceptible to numerous diseases, “but since the Bill is trying to address this, children’s health is likely to improve.†Namusisi adds: “A hungry child cannot comprehend what is taught. This is what has been affecting academic performance in UPE schools. With food security, the children will settle, read and pass highly.â€
Joseph Nsereko, an agro-business consultant, hopes the Bill will address malnutrition in schools. “Underfeeding directly affects children’s academic performance. With the Bill, we are envisaging an improvement in the performance of UPE schools.†Nsereko, who was also part of the team that drafted the Bill, explains that the Bill requires the Government to set up national food reserves and to provide food to vulnerable persons. The vulnerable, according to the Bill, include infants, children, school-going children, victims of conflict, and marginalised populations in urban areas. “We expect the Bill to bring about a great improvement in the academic performance of schools,†he observes.
Some are sceptical
Godfrey Bahiigwa, the director of the Plan for the Modernisation of Agriculture, notes that a heavy load lies on the institutions responsible for implementing the law. “They have to develop effective measures to make it operational.â€
However, critics question the viability of this Bill, citing the six-month jail punishment and the sh240,000 fine to offending parents. Edmond Ssegujja, a member of the Kampala District Service Commission, says the Bill is too emotional to be practical. “Imprisoning parents is an emotional solution. If you imprison the parent because there is no food at home, who will then feed the children?†Although noting that some parents were just reckless, Ssegujja urged the Government to first study the cause of the problem. “Famine and poverty are a general problem. If parents can’t eat two meals a day, how can they feed the children adequately?â€
The 2005/2006 Uganda National Household Survey discovered that 8% of households hardly had a meal a day.
Bundibugyo Woman MP Jane Alisemera says the Bill only focuses on food, yet parents pay school fees, provide medical care and childhood development. “Some parts of Uganda, like the north and Karamoja in the north-eastern region, are affected by the dry spell. How do you jail such people when they can’t produce enough food?â€
She noted that this would create an extra burden on other people who will be required to cater for children when their parents are jailed and that many would fear to take care of orphans, which will in turn deny them a chance of studying.