Free breakfast programme will not be continued, Education Ministry tells Parliament

KUALA LUMPUR: The free breakfast programme that was introduced by former education minister Dr Maszlee Malik in 2019 will not be continued, says the Education Ministry.

In a Parliamentary written reply dated Nov 15, the Education Ministry said that the Cabinet made the decision not to continue the programme in a meeting on Jan 15, 2020 as the present government food programmes were adequate.

"The present food plans for primary school students such as the additional food programme (RMT), will be retained with improvements," said the Ministry.

The Education Ministry was responding to Maszlee (Independent-Simpang Renggam), who asked whether the free breakfast programme would be re-introduced by the government next year to assist parents affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

"The Education Ministry will continue implementing the RMT and the school milk programme to deserving B40 students," it said.

The Ministry added it was confident that the RMT would positively impact students' health and foster healthy eating habits.

The free breakfast programme was introduced during Maszlee's tenure as education minister in 2019.

In response, Maszlee said he was unhappy over the cancellation of the free breakfast programme, saying that the RMT only covers B40 students in primary schools.

"The free breakfast programme targets every student," he Tweeted on Tuesday.

In September, Maszlee told the House that the free breakfast programme should be reintroduced at primary schools nationwide under the 12th Malaysian Plan (12MP) as it could benefit those who are affected by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Maszlee had said according to studies in 2019, it is estimated that 2.7 million children, 50,000 teachers and 7,772 schools would benefit from the free breakfast programme for 200 days a year.