Rwandan Officials Call For An Effective Approach To School Feeding Scheme

Activists and school officials in Rwanda say government’s contribution to the school feeding programme is small compared to the current high food prices, and called for an increase in order to respond to the rising cost of living.

Also, some members of the public are calling for a school feeding funding model that will provide enough support as parents from less privileged families do not have means to pay the required contribution to the feeding of their children at school.

The government spends Rwf56 every day on a student, which is supplemented by the Rwf94 contribution of the parent as support to each student’s feeding while at school.

President of the children’s forum at national level, Elodie Octavie Akoyiremeye, told lawmakers last Monday, that the contribution should be increased.

He said it during the budget hearing where the Ministry of Gender and Family Promotion was presenting its proposed budget for the 2022/23 to the Committee on National Budget and Patrimony.

According to the Rwanda School Feeding Operational Guidelines Summary by the Ministry of Education (MINEDUC), the value of a nutritious meal for this programme is Rwf150 based on menu modeling conducted by MINEDUC and the World Food Programme in 2020, and the National School Feeding Policy.

Venuste Muhamyankaka, Executive Director of Scaling Up Nutrition (SUN) Alliance – an umbrella of Civil Society Organisations engaged in improving nutrition in Rwanda – told local media that a basic nutritious meal cannot be possible with Rwf150, given the current food prices which are high.

Muhamyankaka said that the Government’s daily Rwf56 contribution per student to school feeding is too little compared to the cost of even a basic balanced meal.

According to him, a student needs a basic meal consisting of maize meal (Kawunga), or rice, potatoes, cassava as body energy sources; beans or peas for proteins, and vegetables and fruits for protection from diseases, so that they get the minimum required nutrients. Such a meal, he estimated, can cost about Rwf500.

For effective school feeding programme implementation, he suggested the Government support to school feeding be Rwf300 per day.

Akoyiremeye said that the school feeding fee to be paid by students should be based on people’s means determined by their socio-economic (ubudehe) categories so as to support the most vulnerable.

Her proposal was supported by Muhamyankaka, who said the government’s contribution to school feeding should focus on the most vulnerable citizens based on Ubudehe categories.

Head teacher of Groupe Scolaire (G.S) Gakoni Catholique in Gatsibo District, Félicien Habimana, said the cost of a daily meal at the school was fixed at Rwf200, with the parent having to cover Rwf144 as the Government subsidises the rest of the cost.

The Government’s Rwf56 per student’s meal per day, he said, is available on time, but expressed concern that it is little as the current commodity prices are high, adding that some parents do not pay their share, mostly because of lack of means.

Head Teacher of Groups Scolaire Kibilizi in Gisagara District, Félicité Mukeshimana, told local media that contribution of parents to the school feeding programme was being paid only by a few parents – estimated at 10 per cent.

Education Minister, Valentine Uwamariya, told members of parliament last week during budget hearings that the initiative is still being improved.

Meanwhile, Chairperson of the Committee on National Budget and Patrimony, member of parliament Omar Munyaneza, said that the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning told lawmakers that they were reviewing the Government’s contribution to the school feeding programme to respond to the current market realities.