Why Kaduna Yet To Resume Feeding For Primaries 4-6

Since the suspension of the school feeding programme for primary 4-6 pupils in 2016 by the Kaduna State Government, the programme is yet to resume.

The school feeding programme for primary schools was launched in January 2016 in Kaduna State but was suspended eight months later following the failure of the Federal Government to reimburse the state as agreed. The state government, within the eight months, provided one meal every school day to 1.5 million pupils and was later extended to include 0.3m children in the early child education segments of the state primary schools; bringing the total to 1.8 million children.

A former Commissioner for Education in the state, late Professor Andrew Nok, had said more than N8bn was spent on school feeding within the first eight months of the programme in 2016. Under the arrangement, he said the Federal Government would feed pupils of primaries one to three, while the state government would take responsibility of pupils from primary four to six.

The state government had earlier promised to resume the feeding programme by July 2017, but it is yet to resume.

The Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Malam Ja’afaru Sani, explained to our reporter that the state had not resumed its own part of the programme because it was yet to get the balance payment of the matching grant to cover part of the expenses incurred from January to August in 2016 from the Office of the Vice President (OVP).

The state government has as received N3.4bn, which is said to be half of the money owed it by the Federal Government for the programme.

“We are still waiting for the outstanding balance. Last year, the Federal Government gave 50 per cent of the amount, so the 50 per cent outstanding is yet to be paid, but we learnt from officials in the presidency, last week, that the second and final batch of the payment we are expecting is being processed. So, we hope that by the commencement of next term the state government will resume the feeding programme,” he explained.

Source