Prime Minister Edouard Ngirente has said that the government’s financial support for the provision of meals to all students, though small, will amount to a significant annual expenditure from the national treasury.

The premier was on Tuesday, December 1, responding to to lawmakers’ query that the Rwf56 which the Government has been contributing to the school feeding per student a day was small and was not matching the current high cost of living.

He was presenting the Government’s actions in the Education Sector (2017-2020) to both Chambers Parliament.

 "Under the initiative for meals to all students, we are going to feed over 3.3 million children in both primary and secondary schools. That implies a huge budget,” he said.

"We realised that we will put in about Rwf38 billion per year based on RwfRwf56 support to school feeding per student per day,” he indicated.

The annual feeding budget had been Rwf5.5 billion per year as of the financial year 2018/2019, but, in August last year, the Ministry of Education announced a plan to increase it to over Rwf7 billion in 2019/2020.

The school feeding programme has been implemented in some secondary schools, but it had not yet been [formerly] introduced in primary school.

The extension of the initiative to all students in primary and secondary schools was announced this year.

However, it was hindered as the pandemic delayed the school reopening period – primary and secondary schools started resuming operations early November this year.

Ngirente told parliamentarians that the government's plan is to have the programme initiative implemented starting from January 2021. 

However, he said that the construction of kitchens and the provision of the needed culinary equipment are still being underway.

Given that the contribution of parents is mandatory as announced by the Ministry of Education, MPs voiced concern over the feasibility of the new development in case some vulnerable families are unable to contribute to the initiative.

"What will be done if parents fail to make their contribution to the school feeding because of lack of means,” asked MP Christine Bakundufite.

PM Ngirente said that various options will be considered to help parents   contribute to the feeding of their children at school.

"There is a package that is being considered.  Some schools have come up with alternatives whereby a parent who does not have money can bring foodstuffs, such as five kilograms of beans," he said.

Also, he said, some schools have plans to grow fruits that can support school feeding, and parents might carry out work in place of the monetary contribution they would make, such preparing the school kitchen.

MP Jean Claude Ntezimana proposed the reduction of tax on contractors that supply food items to schools as a way to lower the cost of meals and ease the contribution from parents.

Commenting on such a proposal, the Premier said that it is a good idea and could be taken into account in the school feeding package being considered. 

However, he said that it is a point of discussion as he could not deliberate on it during the Parliamentary session.