Solon to education deparment: Hot meals for hungry learners

In the face of disturbing statistics showing that more than threemillion elementary students go to school with empty stomachs, opposition Sen. Teresa Aquino-Oreta has proposed an innovative feeding program to end the problem.

"President Arroyo cannot sustain, much less begin to build the strong republic that she had spelled out in her second State of the Nation Address if the next generation of young leaders either turn out to be underachievers or school dropouts at an early age because of malnutrition," Oreta said in a statement.

Oreta filed Senate Bill 2242 where she outlined that the Department of Education implement "Hot Meals for Hungry Learners" to address the nutritional needs of public elementary school students by providing them with enough food and vitamin supplements. This will help them learn better and protect them from diseases, Oreta said. And to sustain the program, Oreta proposed that all public elementary schools be given seed capital to develop gardens that will grow vegetables and plants and raise poultry and other animals.

Proceeds from the sale of the garden produce will be used to help ensure the continuous implementation of the school-feeding program.

"We cannot expect children from poor families who arrive in school tired and hungry because they have nothing to eat and had to walk several kilometers just to get there," Oreta said.

Oreta noted that DepEd studies show that high dropout and underachievement rates have been recorded among malnourished children and those with poverty-related health problems. DepEd data also show that 3,244,813 million graders and more than 515,147 students in secondary schools suffer from varying levels of malnutrition.

Under SB 2242, "Hot Meals" will form part of the Integrated School Health and Nutrition Program managed by the DepEd Health and Nutrition Center.

Earlier, Oreta cited the latest findings of the Food and Nutrition Research Institute showing over seven million Filipino children are either underweight or are stunted because of poor eating habits and lack of food.

She said to strengthen the government’s nutrition projects, it should increase spending for the health sector, which has yet to get adequate funding under the Arroyo Administration to carry out health care initiatives that will benefit poor households.