Govt urged to feed pupils in UPE pupils

Oct 29, 2020

Only 33% of UPE children receive a meal at a school

Uganda Debt Network (UDN) has called upon the government and other stakeholders to undertake efforts to feed Universal Primary Education children while at school to improve their learning.

The UDN Director for Programmes Julius Kapwepwe made the call during a consultative meeting with stakeholders at Hotel Africana.

Kapwepwe expressed dismay that only 33% of Universal Primary Education (UPE) children receive a meal at a school.

"32% of UPE children in rural areas receive a meal and 41% of UPE children in urban areas receive a meal. Imagine the implication on nutrition, cognitive, physiological growth. Imagine the implication on UPE outputs and outcomes for Uganda," Kapwepwe wondered.

Pointing out the challenge of a high rate of poverty, Kapwepwe suggested the need for the government of Uganda to take on school feeding through partnerships and policy mix rather than leaving school feeding into the hands of parents.

Commissioner for basic education Tonny Mukasa-Lusambu (left) with UDN programme director Julius Kampwepwe during the breakfast meeting. Photo by Wilfred Sanya

"For example, in the Karamoja region, it was realized that most of the primary school feeding was with support from the World Food Programme, whose intentions were of a short-term nature and not sustainable given the increased number of pupils and primary schools every single year," Kapwepwe explained.

Kapwepwe suggested the need to downsize government and reduce the huge cost of public administration to save resources for more critical needs like feeding the hungry school children.

The ministry of education assistant commissioner for primary school Dr. Tony Mukasa noted that contrary to the figure of 33% Kapwepwe had given, the current figures indicate that school children who get food at school are at 55%.

Mukasa however agreed with all the participants that school feeding is still very low and suggested the need for all stakeholders including parents and local governments to scale up efforts for school feeding.

Representing Operation Wealth Creation, Major Gen. Elly Kayanja said, "We need to do something. We need to encourage parents to feed their children. For us, we used to carry food to school. We also need to look for money for feeding children. Encouraging gardening for schools may not work. "

Calling for efforts to improve household incomes, Gen. Kayanja noted he was surprised to learn that there is such a big number of school children who study on empty stomachs.

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