Out of 4, 286 pupils of Kaduna state primary one to three pupils, only 300 plus are currently benefiting in the federal Government Schools feeding programme, the Director Higher Education Mr. John Bala Gora has disclosed.
According to him, over 11000 cooks and vendors are currently involved in the ongoing programme and there are a lot of schools and cooks that were involve in the state school feeding programme that are yet to be cleared.
The Director made the disclosure when the Deputy majority leader of Bauchi state House of Assembly Alhaji Abdullahi Sa’ad led some members and other education management team to the Kaduna State House of Assembly for a visit to learn from the state experience on the ongoing school feeding programme, assuring that processes are on going to ensure that all schools, cooks and vendors yet to be clear are paid.
He noted that the federal government feeding programme cooks officially for 150 pupils daily at a rate of N70 per pupil.
Earlier, the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, said that the Federal Government had refunded N3.4 billion out of the N6.8 billion expecting from it, been expenses incurred by the state in 2016.
He noted that under the 26 weeks of its schools feeding programme in 2016, the state spends N9.5 billion in which N6.8 billion was expected to be refunded back by the Federal Government as part of its component of feeding primary one to three.
According to him, the kaduna state version of the school feeding programmed for year 2017 is yet to commence because they are still expecting the remain fund of N3.4 from the federal government.
“The school feeding Programme kicked off January 2016 and run till July, and was suspended as result of the federal Government inability to refund the whole total sum spend for feeding the primary 1 to 3 during the Kaduna state school feeding programme” he stated.
According to him, when the programme started, over 85000 sellers, 1779 children’s and 17000 women cooks, benefited in the schools feeding programme.
The permanent Secretary who said that feeding was done at the rate of N55 per every pupil, noted that in piloting the programme, the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB) was deeply involve in sourcing for the cooks, identification of the schools, numbers of pupils among others.
Responding the Bauchi state Deputy Majority leader who is also the chairman Home Growth school feeding programme, Alhaji Abdullahi Sa’ad said the objective of the visit was to find out how the Kaduna state which have been into the school feeding programme for a long time now, for them to learn and in turn use the knowledge to strengthen their own federal government feeding programme which kicked off recently in their state .
“We are fresh in the program as we are started with the federal government feeding programme, there is need for us to Learn from Kaduna state which have been running theirs at the state level before the federal Governme own” he noted
The lawmaker while appreciating the Kaduna Assembly for the warmly welcome through it’s Committee on Education, stressed that the House demonstrate brotherhood geared toward making the Bauchi Assembly enact good law for the betterment of the people in the state.
Also the Chairman House Committee on Education Mallam Dahiru Liman said that the school feeding Programme was part of the All Progressive Congress (APC) manifesto and hope that with the little done through the school feeding programme the electorate will appreciate APC government.
