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Rwamagana: School feeding simplified distance to pupils

By Iradukunda Raissa Diane

School Feeding has been an integral part of the government’s strategy to address children’s hunger during the school day and expand access to educational opportunities to disadvantaged children, particularly orphans and vulnerable school learners. The school feeding program is an effective mechanism for addressing child nutrition issues, increasing educational enrolment, retention and performance.

The school children in Rwanda shall achieve their full development potential through a sustainable school feeding programme.

Parents from Kigabiro Sector, in Rwamagana District, are thankful to the school feeding program, for having shortened the distance, children used to make. The programme of feeding children at school started in 2020, due to some of the children encountered the problem regarding journeys they could make.

After revisting the programme this year, some of the parents testify that it helped their children. They had said that whenever their children come from school they aren’t as tired as it is used to be moreover when they are still energetic, which enables them to engage in evening work. Thereby revising their lessons. As a result, their performance has improved and now they do pass the exams effectively.

This was emphasized by some of the children from Nyarusange G.S, they said initially, before the introduction of the programme, some them would be tired, and others wouldn’t be satisfied, but after eating, while at school, life is generally good, they learn properly.

Nkeramugaba Janvier, in charge of Education in Kigabiro Sector, says that the programme wasn’t only beneficial to parents and teachers only. It also helped in improving quality of Education.

“School feeding programme was timely, and it is a solution to the teachers and parents in our sector, because previously its introduction, children couldn’t learn. Pupils wouldn’t revise in the evening because of being hungry, additionally the programme is helpful to the Children who came in the poor families, while the government supplements their payment for the programme.

The Kigabiro Sector, administration points out the programme has improved quality of Education in the sector, because children pass well as findings of not walking long distances.

WFP supports the Government of Rwanda (GoR) to provide daily school meals to 81,250 children in 104 schools in the four most vulnerable and food-insecure districts across the country. The programme takes a holistic approach to improving access to and quality of primary education in Rwanda.

Apart from the provision of daily meals, consisting of porridge (CSB+ and sugar) or a combination of fortified maize, beans, salt and vegetable oil, WFP and its partners implement complementary activities at the supported schools in order to increase education outcomes among the targeted students.

These activities range from supporting teacher trainings, implementing literacy projects, building infrastructure, constructing school gardens and promoting access to clean water, among others. Furthermore, in line with the GoR’s home grown school feeding model in which all school feeding commodities would be produced locally in Rwanda, WFP works closely with smallholder farmer (SHF) cooperatives to build capacity for future supply to schools.

All school children in Rwanda shall achieve their full development potential through a sustainable school feeding programme that provides adequate and the program also provides an income-generation, employment creation and economic integration benefits to communities in which is implemented. The Ministry of Education (MINEDUC) has a crucial role to play in coordinating efforts to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of the school feeding programme.

However, this implies institutional strengthening of school feeding at the national, regional and district levels. It also implies vigorous change management processes and capacity-building amongst stakeholders. The efforts to address its challenges include addressing its public image, strengthening financial management, human resource capacity, procurement governance, monitoring and evaluation which have to be integrated into a holistic and focused accountability. The goal of the School Feeding Policy is to deliver a well-organized, decentralized intervention providing school going children with nutritionally adequate, locally produced food thereby reducing poverty through improved household incomes and effective local economic development.

The school children in Rwanda shall achieve their full development potential through a sustainable school feeding programme.

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