Govt to invest more in hot meals school programme – President Ali

The People’s Progressive Party/Civic (PPP/C) Government plans to pump more money into its hot meals programme in schools, to continue to benefit thousands of students countrywide.
This was revealed by President Dr Irfaan Ali during the commissioning of the new state-of-the-art Good Hope Secondary School, East Coast Demerara (ECD) on Wednesday.
According to the Head of State, the Government has already spent about $135 million over the last nine months on the project.
“In the hot meal programme, across the country this year, I think we’ve spent in the last nine months or so maybe $135 million. We intend to spend more money on ensuring that our children have access to basic nutritional complements that aid development, that aid learning. This is an important aspect of the holistic education system we want to develop,” President Ali explained.
In its 2023 budget, the Government allocated $2.1 billion to expand the national school feeding programme which will benefit over 85,000 children across the country.
The Ministry’s hot meal programme serves meals to primary and primary top students in Regions One, Two, Three, Five, Seven, Eight, Nine, and 10. This amounts to some 13,000 children benefitting.
Education Minister Priya Manickchand, in a televised programme, had stated: “The village does whatever the meal is going to be. The village cooks it and we give them the money and they prepare the food for the entire primary population.”
This undertaking is just one of the Ministry’s projects focused on enhancing academic achievement and attendance. It also aligns with the Government’s goal to reduce the financial burden on parents and guardians.