BY DELISA THWALA
MBABANE– Schools will start receiving food for feeding schemes in the second week of opening schools.
This was revealed by the Minister of Education and Training, Lady Howard Mabuza, during the morning live interview with Eswatini Broadcasting Services (EBIS) today.
The country’s 2023 academic calendar will begin next week Tuesday. Government’s obligations to schools include providing meals for learners.
The provision of food is part of the elements of the Free Primary Education (FPF) programme.
Some other elements of the FPE include the distribution of free stationery, teaching and learning materials like textbooks, workbooks, exercise books, and other stationery for the learners.
The government also provides grants that cover schools’ operational costs, such as school fees, feeding, and running administrative duties.
Last week Thursday, the government released stationery, which was distributed to centres where schools’ representatives fetched it for their respective schools. In the Hhohho Region, around 200 primary schools were at the Mater Dolorosa (MDS) Primary School in Mbabane, where they collected stationery for their learners.
The minister further stated that they were finalizing logistical issues with their partners in the schools’ feeding scheme.
“We are hoping that the delivery will begin in the first or second week of schools opening,” she said. The ministry engages in food distribution together with the National Emergency Response Council on HIV/AIDS (NERCHA).
The minister highlighted that most schools did not conduct lessons during the first two weeks of schools opening.
During this period, schools finalize admissions and other administrative duties. Learners normally knock off early and there are minimal restrictions in terms of periods spent in the school premises.
Coming to the payment of FPE, the minister mentioned that the Treasury Department under the Ministry of Finance was finalizing the payments of FPE grants for some schools and also working on the payments for the new academic year.
In an interview last week, Deputy Prime Minister (DPM) Themba Nhlanganiso Masuku said they were fast-tracking the process of paying FPE funds to the schools.
Worth noting, last year, due to escalating food prices as a result of the global crisis that have been fuelled by the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the government struggled to keep schools’ feeding schemes afloat.
For that reason, some schools and parents were urged to support the schools’ feeding schemes. Some schools that had enough land and water were urged to start using that land to cultivate crops to supplement the feeding scheme while the surplus could be sold to buy other food item. Principal Secretary Bhekithemba Gama last year April mentioned that in the next financial year, the ministry would look into reviewing the budget in order to have enough supply. In preparation for the next financial year’s budget allocation, all government ministries are expected to submit their proposed budget allocation.
