More than half a million Western Cape pupils must be fed through the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP), which is in many cases the only food that these children receive.
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This is according to the provincial Department of Education, which, on Wednesday, briefed the standing committee on public accounts in the legislature about the impact of the NSNP.
In the briefing, HOD Brent Waters said that the department had noted an increase of 18 000 pupils relying on the NSNP between March 2022 and May 2023.
‘We have noticed there is a dire need to feed more learners. Regarding the impact of the NSNP, we know that you cannot teach a hungry child.’
‘We also serve learners with two meals per day, and we are one of the first provinces to roll out a breakfast for learners,’ he said.
Speaking to News24, Education MEC David Maynier said that the number of pupils receiving meals through the NSNP in the Western Cape increased from 500 073 in March 2022 to 518 387 in May 2023.
‘This has posed a challenge to the department, as the NSNP grant did not increase sufficiently to cover the increase and the inflation in food costs. We have thus allocated additional provincial funding to meet the shortfall,’ Maynier added.
According to a study titled Effects of Covid-19 on In-school Nutrition, conducted in schools that served breakfast and lunch as part of the NSNP in Gauteng, the Western Cape, KwaZulu-Natal and North West, children were negatively impacted by restrictions imposed during the pandemic as they could not access food during this period.
Parents for Equal Education South Africa founder Vanessa le Roux said that there was a major problem in the country where children were going hungry. She told News24 that there was a real danger of food security in the country.
Le Roux added that the aftermath of COVID-19 and the rise in unemployment had left the economy in a crisis and the department should not be surprised by the increase in pupils dependent on the NSNP.
‘They should not portray it as if they are doing something special. It has already been budgeted for these children,’ she said.
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Picture: Unsplash / bill wegener