In the 2012 National Budget over Gy$1B has been allocated towards the continued implementation of the National and Hinterland School Feeding Programmes. In 2012 a similar amount was allocated for the same programmes and saw over 63,000 children countrywide benefiting.
Over the last three years the PPP/C Administration has spent over Gy$2.5B on providing snacks and meals for school children. It was initially introduced as part of a poverty eradication project aimed at assisting families who are unable to provide sufficient meals for their children.
The Education Ministry funds three feeding programmes namely the juice and biscuit programme, the hot meals and the cassava bread and juice programmes; both of which are implemented in the hinterland. The juice and biscuit component caters for students of nursery schools and primary students in Grades 1 and 2 while the hot meals are given to students in Regions 1, 7, 8 and 9.
In 2010, an impact assessment on Guyana’s hinterland based school feeding programme by the EFA/FTI indicated positive impacts on enrollment, attendance, classroom behaviour, participation and students’ nutritional balance.
The 2012 budget also provides for the continuation of the School Uniform Programme which reiterates the current Administration’s commitment towards improving attendance, participation rates, and attainment levels, by ensuring that every child has the basic necessities for school. Over Gy$266M was expended in 2011 to ensure each child has a uniform for school.
This programme commenced in 2002 under the purview of the Ministry of Labour, Human Services and Social Security, and aimed at boosting school attendance in rural and hinterland communities thereby ensuring needy children received a uniform to attend school. (GINA)
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