The Federal Government’ s school feeding programme is still battling with teething problems three years after it was inaugurated , investigations by The PUNCH have revealed.
Findings by our correspondents showed that while the programme was irregular in schools it had started , many others were left out of it .
It was also learnt that only pupils in primary one to three were being fed in schools benefiting from the programme.
It was gathered that many schools in the rural and swampy areas were excluded from the programme because of the Federal Government officers’ inability to access them.
At the launch of the Home Grown School Feeding programme in 2016, the Vice- President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo , said the scheme was aimed at providing free school meals .
It is also aimed at “ increasing school enrolment and completion ” and “ improving child nutrition and health. ”
Investigations revealed that the crisis associated with the programme had not enabled it to achieve its aims .
413 schools left out in Enugu
Out of the 1, 204 public primary schools in Enugu State, The PUNCH’ s investigations showed that 413 were not benefiting from the programme.
One of our correspondents assessed the programme at the New Haven Primary Schools 1, 2,3 and 4; Construction Primary Schools 1 and 2; the Ekulu Primary School and the Independence Layout Primary School, all in the Enugu metropolis.
Nursery pupils excluded in Enugu
It was observed that only pupils in primary one to three were being fed, while those in nursery one to three were completely excluded from the programme .
Only 49 pupils selected in Enugu school
The correspondent noticed that in the New Haven Primary School 1, only 49 out of 96 pupils, who were in primary one to three, were being fed.
The PUNCH gathered that the management of the programme had in October reduced the amount of money paid to each cook , as a result, only 49 pupils, in some cases 30 pupils, were selected from primary one to three, for feeding.
According to the menu obtained from one of the schools, the pupils are fed with yams and beans together with oranges on Monday .
On Tuesday , they are given jollof rice and chicken with bananas. On Wednesday, they are fed with Okpa with watermelon . On Thursday, they eat fried potato and egg sauce as well as oranges , while on Friday, the pupils are given Igba Oka with akidi , vegetable and watermelon .

Head teachers lament nursery pupils ’ exclusion
Although head teachers, who spoke to the correspondent, attested to the quality of the food, they lamented that the critical segment ( the nursery section ) of the schools was left out.
The state Coordinator of the scheme , Ifeanyi Onah, in an interview with The PUNCH, confirmed the reduction in the number of the pupils and schools benefiting from the programme.
Onah said , “ This programme is designed essentially for all public primary schools in Nigeria. In Enugu State , we have about 1, 204 schools. When we began the programme, we started with 1, 220 schools, but due to some adjustments made by the state Universal Basic Education Board , a few schools were merged and the number of schools reduced .
“ We have about 1,204 schools in the state and unfortunately not all of them are benefiting . We have 791 schools that are benefitting . Others are left out. Presently , about 114, 000 pupils are being fed in the state .”
On why the programme did not cover all the schools, Onah explained, “ There were technical challenges from the headquarters coupled with submission of irreconcilable data on the cooks who were recruited at the inception.”
According to him , because of the irreconcilable data, some of the cooks were removed from the programme.
He said that since 2017 , programme managers in Abuja refused to employ more cooks and as a result, many schools were not taking part in the programme .
Onah stated , “ When we recruited ( the cooks ) , we asked those selected to provide their personal data, but regrettably after the banks had opened accounts for them and their names were forwarded to Abuja , during inter - bank settlement system verification, it was discovered that some names and bank verification numbers did not correspond. Even some pictures didn’ t correspond with what they had in the BVNs and some of the cooks were dropped in the first set of payment. ”
He further explained that when such cooks were removed from the programme, the schools they were posted to were also excluded .
On the number of time the pupils were being fed , the programme manager disclosed that the condition for feeding was that a cook would be paid before cooking for a school.
Onah stated , “ Their payment is based on N70 per child and the specific amount that a cook is paid will determine the number of children that will be fed and how many days the feeding will cover. Since we started , it is either they are paid for 10 working days or 20. Ten working days is seen as two weeks, while 20 working days is seen as one month. ”
On the reduction in the number of pupils, Onah said , “ Officers from headquarters told us that they were going to deploy people from the National Bureau of Statistics in some states to confirm data submitted and conduct a headcount of pupils.
“ You can’ t use a headcount to determine enrolment because it is possible that you may visit a school and about four or five pupils will not come because of illness. They may not be in school for other reasons. ”
“ In Enugu State , about 80 per cent of the primary schools are in the rural areas. How can a stranger claim he knows the routes to all those places? Within a short period , they told us that the NBS officers had concluded their work and submitted their data. Within a short time, they claimed that they had visited 1 ,204 schools in Enugu State . ”
Onah said while some cooks were short- paid, others were not paid at all. One of the cooks, De Blessing Sam, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said , “ I was feeding 96 pupils before at New Haven Primary School 1 , but since the last phase , the money they paid me was for only for 46 pupils. How do you share food for 46 pupils among 96 pupils? I don ’t know what went wrong but the government should either fund the programme or stop it. ”
A ’Ibom: Only 154, 000 out of 334 ,353 pupils benefiting
In Akwa Ibom State, the Focal Person for the School Feeding Programme, Dr Godwin Akpan, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said the number of pupils benefiting from the programme dropped from 334 ,353 to 154, 000.
Akpan said out of 1, 150 schools, the school feeding programme could only capture 1, 105 schools in the state .
He explained that the pupils and schools under the programme were drastically reduced last year after officials of the NBS conducted a headcount across the state .

Read more from: https://punchng.com/fgs-school-feeding-crisis-cripples-scheme-benefiting-states-lament/

valentineuwakwe:
The Federal Government’ s school feeding programme is still battling with teething problems three years after it was inaugurated , investigations by The PUNCH have revealed.
Findings by our correspondents showed that while the programme was irregular in schools it had started , many others were left out of it .
It was also learnt that only pupils in primary one to three were being fed in schools benefiting from the programme.
It was gathered that many schools in the rural and swampy areas were excluded from the programme because of the Federal Government officers’ inability to access them.
At the launch of the Home Grown School Feeding programme in 2016, the Vice- President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo , said the scheme was aimed at providing free school meals .
It is also aimed at “ increasing school enrolment and completion ” and “ improving child nutrition and health. ”
Investigations revealed that the crisis associated with the programme had not enabled it to achieve its aims .
413 schools left out in Enugu
Out of the 1, 204 public primary schools in Enugu State, The PUNCH’ s investigations showed that 413 were not benefiting from the programme.
One of our correspondents assessed the programme at the New Haven Primary Schools 1, 2,3 and 4; Construction Primary Schools 1 and 2; the Ekulu Primary School and the Independence Layout Primary School, all in the Enugu metropolis.
Nursery pupils excluded in Enugu
It was observed that only pupils in primary one to three were being fed, while those in nursery one to three were completely excluded from the programme .
Only 49 pupils selected in Enugu school
The correspondent noticed that in the New Haven Primary School 1, only 49 out of 96 pupils, who were in primary one to three, were being fed.
The PUNCH gathered that the management of the programme had in October reduced the amount of money paid to each cook , as a result, only 49 pupils, in some cases 30 pupils, were selected from primary one to three, for feeding.
According to the menu obtained from one of the schools, the pupils are fed with yams and beans together with oranges on Monday .
On Tuesday , they are given jollof rice and chicken with bananas. On Wednesday, they are fed with Okpa with watermelon . On Thursday, they eat fried potato and egg sauce as well as oranges , while on Friday, the pupils are given Igba Oka with akidi , vegetable and watermelon .

Head teachers lament nursery pupils ’ exclusion
Although head teachers, who spoke to the correspondent, attested to the quality of the food, they lamented that the critical segment ( the nursery section ) of the schools was left out.
The state Coordinator of the scheme , Ifeanyi Onah, in an interview with The PUNCH, confirmed the reduction in the number of the pupils and schools benefiting from the programme.
Onah said , “ This programme is designed essentially for all public primary schools in Nigeria. In Enugu State , we have about 1, 204 schools. When we began the programme, we started with 1, 220 schools, but due to some adjustments made by the state Universal Basic Education Board , a few schools were merged and the number of schools reduced .
“ We have about 1,204 schools in the state and unfortunately not all of them are benefiting . We have 791 schools that are benefitting . Others are left out. Presently , about 114, 000 pupils are being fed in the state .”
On why the programme did not cover all the schools, Onah explained, “ There were technical challenges from the headquarters coupled with submission of irreconcilable data on the cooks who were recruited at the inception.”
According to him , because of the irreconcilable data, some of the cooks were removed from the programme.
He said that since 2017 , programme managers in Abuja refused to employ more cooks and as a result, many schools were not taking part in the programme .
Onah stated , “ When we recruited ( the cooks ) , we asked those selected to provide their personal data, but regrettably after the banks had opened accounts for them and their names were forwarded to Abuja , during inter - bank settlement system verification, it was discovered that some names and bank verification numbers did not correspond. Even some pictures didn’ t correspond with what they had in the BVNs and some of the cooks were dropped in the first set of payment. ”
He further explained that when such cooks were removed from the programme, the schools they were posted to were also excluded .
On the number of time the pupils were being fed , the programme manager disclosed that the condition for feeding was that a cook would be paid before cooking for a school.
Onah stated , “ Their payment is based on N70 per child and the specific amount that a cook is paid will determine the number of children that will be fed and how many days the feeding will cover. Since we started , it is either they are paid for 10 working days or 20. Ten working days is seen as two weeks, while 20 working days is seen as one month. ”
On the reduction in the number of pupils, Onah said , “ Officers from headquarters told us that they were going to deploy people from the National Bureau of Statistics in some states to confirm data submitted and conduct a headcount of pupils.
“ You can’ t use a headcount to determine enrolment because it is possible that you may visit a school and about four or five pupils will not come because of illness. They may not be in school for other reasons. ”
“ In Enugu State , about 80 per cent of the primary schools are in the rural areas. How can a stranger claim he knows the routes to all those places? Within a short period , they told us that the NBS officers had concluded their work and submitted their data. Within a short time, they claimed that they had visited 1 ,204 schools in Enugu State . ”
Onah said while some cooks were short- paid, others were not paid at all. One of the cooks, De Blessing Sam, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said , “ I was feeding 96 pupils before at New Haven Primary School 1 , but since the last phase , the money they paid me was for only for 46 pupils. How do you share food for 46 pupils among 96 pupils? I don ’t know what went wrong but the government should either fund the programme or stop it. ”
A ’Ibom: Only 154, 000 out of 334 ,353 pupils benefiting
In Akwa Ibom State, the Focal Person for the School Feeding Programme, Dr Godwin Akpan, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said the number of pupils benefiting from the programme dropped from 334 ,353 to 154, 000.
Akpan said out of 1, 150 schools, the school feeding programme could only capture 1, 105 schools in the state .
He explained that the pupils and schools under the programme were drastically reduced last year after officials of the NBS conducted a headcount across the state .

Read more from: https://punchng.com/fgs-school-feeding-crisis-cripples -scheme-benefiting-states-lament/

What's that


Please don't tell me it's white rice and egusi

As usual, this school(meal)feeding scheme was a conduit pipe for gross corruption.If in doubt let them list the billions they allegedly spent on this fraud.

an unsustainable policy from onset

Racoon:
As usual, this school(meal)feeding scheme was a conduit pipe for gross corruption.If in doubt let them list the billions they allegedly spent on this fraud.

So who do we blame for this, the FG that provided the funding or some of the cooks who gave out fake information to the state coordinators?

Nigerians are just too corrupt, just cook and feed the kids, they'd still want to cut corners, tomorrow they'd start blaming the government.

Man the state governments soind very incompetent. How hard is it to figure out how many students you have registered budget accordingly. Airlines manage to feed all their customers without this nonsense. Just contract with a big food vendor in every local government for the school year?

It was gathered that many schools in the rural and swampy areas were excluded from the programme because of the Federal Government officers’ inability to access them.

These useless bureaucrats and dumb excuses. The talk as if the students and teachers are special forces simce they're able to access the school.

Front page: Lalasticlala Mynd44

Na wa