Lagos State Universal Basic Education Board (LASUBEB) ahead of the resumption of provision of mid-day meals to Primary 1-3 pupils attending public primary schools in Lagos State recently held a five-day training for food handlers drawn from the Local Government Education Authority(LGEA) across the state, on Covid-19 safety protocols in public primary schools.
The programme themed, ‘Quality Nutrition and Healthy Lifestyle during Covid-19 Pandemic’, was aimed at strengthening their capacity to effectively perform their duties hygienically and efficiently. It will ensure that they serve the pupils food by midday every day of the week.
The school feeding was halted in January because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Executive Chairman of the board, Wahab Alawiye-King who declared the programme opened, said the theme was apt considering the present reality, adding that the application of the principles of environmental sanitation, personal hygiene and established food safety practices, cannot be overemphasised.
He emphasised the national home-grown school feeding programme, a social intervention initiative of the federal government to promote social protection whereby pupils in primary one to three in public primary schools are given one nutritious meal per day.
He commended the federal government for its commitment towards the initiative in Lagos saying, "this has continued to increase enrolment and retention rates of pupils in public books and also helped to improve their nutrition and health status".
Also, a permanent board member in charge of special projects, Mr. Dayo Adefuye urged the cooks to ensure their environment is kept clean and the food is well presented to the children.
The cooks' spokesperson, Mrs Olaide Anifowose lamented that the funds given were insufficient to cook decent meals considering the economic downturn.
She said she only got N88,000 to feed 100 Primary 1-3 pupils at the Ebenezer Primary School, Egbeda for one month.
“The money we get to feed the children is too small. In my school, I was given N88,000 to feed 100 children. It is too small. I want to appeal to the government to help us increase the money,” she told the LASUBEB Chairman, Mr. Wahab Alawiye-King, as her fellow food vendors cheered loudly.
Mrs. Anifowose also complained that the food suppliers brought poor quality foodstuff that was even more expensive than obtainable in the market.
A community leader in charge of the distribution of food in Ebenezer Primary School, Egbeda, Chief Olaide Anifowose appealed to the board to ensure that the prices of food that will be supplied to schools are subsidised and the foods are of the right quality.
Alawiye-King said he would send the feedback to funders of the programme, the Federal Government through the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.
He added that the Lagos State government played a supportive role in the implementation of the programme and had gone ahead to provide the children with water bottles, train the food vendors and provide them with identification cards and aprons.
