Free breakfast programme to start Jan 20 at 100 schools

PUTRAJAYA (Bernama): The first phase of free breakfast programme (PSP) will be implemented on January 20, 2020, at 100 primary schools nationwide, said the Education Ministry.

It said the cost of the project, involving 37,000 pupils and 1,600 teachers on duty daily, is estimated at RM22mil.

"The PSP will be held from 7am to 8.30am for the morning session and from 1pm to 4pm for the afternoon session according to the school management,” it said in a statement here on Friday (Dec 27).

The ministry also said the implementation of the first phase of PSP will use the concept of Grab ‘n’ Go which is made up of a milk drink or nutritious drink and snacks such as bread, biscuits, cereal, kuih, sandwich, fruits or hard-boiled eggs.

Elaborating further, it said the selection of schools for the first phase was made based on schools with the highest percentage of students from the B40 group and it also took into consideration all types of schools namely national primary schools (SK), Chinese national-type primary schools (SJKC) and Tamil national-type primary schools (SJKT).

The ministry said the selection of schools was based on the total number of schools carrying out Supplementary Food Programme (RMT) in each state encompassing all locations, be it urban, rural and interior.

"The implementation also took into consideration the views of the Health Ministry which will allocate a nutrition science officer to each district to advise the schools on PSP menu.

"However, the permission of parents is required to obtain consent and important information on the health of pupils such as allergy to certain food so that alternative menu is provided,” it said.

The ministry is also planning to extend the programme to all 7,776 primary schools to benefit about 2.7 million students throughout the country.

However, it said the programme depended on the allocation received and the readiness of canteen operators and schools.

According to the ministry, continuous monitoring would be conducted with the cooperation of the Health Ministry so that the food provided is of good quality to achieve the desired impact.

"Effective study on the programme will be carried out and will be tabled to improve the programme from time to time,” it said.

The Education Ministry also said the school breakfast programme is the latest initiative to provide nutritious food according to caloric value and a balanced diet to ensure pupils practise taking breakfast, a healthy lifestyle as well as to stimulate their growth.- Bernama