DA welcomes Western Cape emergency school feeding scheme

The Democratic Alliance (DA) has commended the Western Cape education department (WCED) on the launch of its emergency school feeding scheme for vulnerable learners in the province during the Covid-19 lockdown.

The programme is targeted at 483,000 learners who normally receive meals at school during the school term, said the party in a statement.

This after the provincial treasury’s allocation of R18 million in additional funding to the scheme. Schools will distribute food to leaners on Wednesday and Friday this week and Tuesday and Friday next week, with individual schools permitted to provide daily meals.

“Millions of South African scholars have faced extreme hunger during this lockdown period and sadly many of them will continue to suffer for the duration of this lockdown period. The DA, therefore, welcomes the forward-thinking and initiative that has been displayed by the WCED and calls on the remaining eight provincial education departments to follow the Western Cape’s lead.

“The WCED has filled an important gap in providing meals to the vulnerable which ultimately is the responsibility of the department of social development. However, whilst Minister Zulu was busy posting videos about how hard it was for her to remain indoors, the WCED has been working hard to ensure that the children of the Western Cape do not go to bed hungry,” said the party in a statement.

The province has implemented safety measures to keep learners safe amid the Covid-19 pandemic including:

• Learners will not eat at schools and must bring their own food containers from home, which are not touched by the staff/volunteers;
• Learners must remain at least 1.5 metres apart from one another and no more than 50 children may enter at a time; and
• Soap, water and hand sanitiser will be provided for learners to wash their hands.

“For many children, the meals they receive at school is the only meal they’ll have for the entire day. It is therefore incumbent on governments to seek ways in which they can assist and ensure that vulnerable South Africans have food on the table.”

It further called on other provinces to follow suit.

For more news your way, download The Citizen’s app for iOS and Android.