Zamfara Parents lament suspension of free feeding in government schools.Parents and guardians of students attending public schools in Zamfara State have expressed regret that the suspension of free meals for students by the State government may deter children from enrolling in public institutions. They observed that the free feeding encouraged children to arrive on time at school, which had a favorable effect on the development of education.
However, a thorough examination by DAILY POST found that the rate of student enrolment has significantly decreased after the State administration halted the free meals in the schools, likely as a result of the teething insecurity issue.
Since the State government chose to stop providing meals in the schools, several pupils at the Government Girls’ Day Secondary School in Gusau who spoke with this medium stated they now bring their cooked meals from home to the school.
They acknowledged that some pupils at the school had ceased attending, noting that this may not be unrelated to the State government’s choice to stop providing the students with food.
Alhaji Mohammed Adamu, one of the parents and guardians, claims that the State government formed the State’s feeding agency to encourage the young people to enroll in public schools in large numbers. He adds that since the feedings have been suspended, the agency’s goal has been defeated.
The feeding program was started by the same State administration that is now suspending it.
In order to encourage students to attend classes regularly, the organization was founded in 2000 by Senator Ahmed Sani Yarima, the State’s first executive governor.
The program was in place before the current government took office, thus he argued that there was no justifiable reason to stop it because doing so would have a negative impact on the state’s educational system.
He claims that because the providers of the food to the schools would be out of work, the suspension will also have an economic impact on them.
To assist us convince the State government to rethink its decision and rescue the education sector, we have been contacting stakeholders and education experts.
The pupils’ free meals, according to Adamu, had a favorable impact in drawing large numbers of students to attend public schools.
Because so many pupils are so unwilling to return to their classrooms, he remarked, “the suspension has increased the number of out-of-school children in the State.”
