Tyrone Reid, Staff Reporter
The Ministry of Education and Youth is insisting that young children like these who attend basic schools across the island benefit from its school-feeding programme. - CONTRIBUTED
THE MINISTRY of Education and Youth has denied claims made in a Government-commissioned report on the early childhood sector that basic schools are excluded from the State's school-feeding programme.
The report, entitled Early Childhood Education, Care and Development, said that basic schools were not included in the feeding programme, as it caters for children attending public institutions only. "Children attending basic schools are not included in the programme. This is a most iniquitous situation, which must be urgently addressed," said the report.
The report was commissioned by former Prime Minister P.J. Patterson and was presented to him in March 2005.
Evadne Vennor, assistant chief education officer in the Early Childhood Unit of the Ministry of Education and Youth denied the claim on Tuesday.
"I deem it an error. Probably somebody in their particular area might see one or two schools not getting assistance then they say that the whole system is like that," said Miss Vennor.
SCHOOLS BENEFIT
She explained that both recognised and unrecognised basic schools benefit in some way from the Government's school feeding programme. Miss Vennor, who has been with the Ministry for 26 years, pointed out that spreading the resources has always been the Ministry's modus operandi.
However, she admitted that there was some discrepancy in the allotment. "Unrecognised schools might not get the quantum as recognised schools ... but they do get," she emphasised.
Miss Vennor explained that all recognised institutions get a nutrition subsidy twice per year, which works out to $250 per child every six months. In addition, recognised basic schools are beneficiaries of at least one component of the school-feeding programme. On the other hand, the unrecognised basic schools are given commodities and are beneficiaries of the nutri-bun and milk component of the school-feeding programme.
Helen Robertson, director of the School Feeding Unit at the Ministry, confirmed that the school-feeding programme includes basic schools. "At least one component of the school feeding programme is in every school type with the exception of the traditional high schools and the technical high schools," she said.
Feeding programme
There are more than 2,000 basic schools in Jamaica
About 1,850 of them are recognised by the Ministry
The Ministry's school-
feeding programme has two components:
i) The nutri-bun and milk component.
ii) The cooked lunch component, which varies in price
However, the Ministry has a policy that no child should be deprived of the provision, if they cannot afford it.
