Approximately 400 primary school students are benefitting from breakfast daily, a new initiative that has been introduced by the National School Meals Programme n(NSMP).
Charlesworth T. Samuel, Buckelys, Liberta, Villa, Potters, and Mary E. Pigott Primary Schools are part of a pilot programme that commenced in September, 2022.
As a result of the success of the roll out of the new initiative, Golden Grove Primary School became the seventh public school to benefit when the breakfast meal programme was officially launched at the school on Wednesday.
Minister of Education, Sports and Creative Industries, Daryll Matthew, was on hand to serve the first of 100 meals that were provided to select students at the school.
He applauded the NSMP’s efforts and noted that the decision to introduce breakfast took into consideration several factors, including the importance of the first meal of the day and the fact that many students are deprived of it.
“The scientists and nutritionists will tell you that breakfast is really the most important meal of the day, and we recognised that if our children are to really thrive in an environment where they are to learn and are expected to have the absorptive capacity for learning at its peak, they must start the day right.
“We also recognise that many of our students come from households and families that may not necessarily have the ability to provide the sort of nutrition that the children require.
“The school meals programme has been in existence where it provides lunches for our children, but we as a government and an administration believe that we need to take…the school meals programme to the next level,” Minister Matthew stated.
Acknowledging that the breakfast initiative is an expensive undertaking, he said it is necessary in light of the government’s emphasis on education and its determination to nurture young minds for leadership positions in the future.
In the long-term, all schools in which lunch is served will eventually be able to provide breakfast to those who need it most.
Director of the National School Meals Programme, Ezra Knowles, added once planned upgrades are undertaken at their central kitchen, the number of meals provided to students will increase.
“We are working on the kitchen expansion and that is something that is definitely a need. If we are able to execute that starting March and complete by June, we would say by the time we come back for the next term, which would be September, we would be more than able to handle all the schools that need the breakfast.”
In order to serve breakfast to students before the school day begins at 9am, the NSMP implemented a new shift which runs from 11pm to 7am.
This shift also begins the preparations for lunch.
By 7am, the hot meals are dispatched to schools and service commences by 8:15am.
Principal of Golden Grove Primary School, Mae Hippolyte, welcomed her institution’s addition to the breakfast programme. She said it will make a difference in the lives of many children.
“We have a lot of students who are less fortunate,” Hippolyte revealed. “As a school, we would provide breakfast in the past for some students who have nothing to eat. You would probably find that out when they are feeling badly and you ask a question. So, we had to quickly get together and provide something for them. So, it is important, and we are very grateful.”
