An appraisal of the implementation of the national school feeding programme and its effect on enrolment and attendance in public primary schools in Southeast, Nigeria: perception of heads of schools
-
Published:2023-03-02
Issue:1
Volume:9
Page:
-
ISSN:2055-0928
-
Container-title:BMC Nutrition
-
language:en
-
Short-container-title:BMC Nutr
Author:
Agu Chibuike Innocent,Ossai Edmund Ndudi,Ogah Onwe Emeka,Agu Ifunaya Clara,Akamike Ifeyinwa,Ugwu George Onyemaechi,Edwin Nwobodo,Ewenyi Blessing Lucy,Azuogu Benedict N.
Abstract
Abstract
Introduction
The National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) was re-launched in Nigeria in 2016, eleven years after it was first introduced in the country, with Enugu as one of the beneficiary States. The objectives of the programme are to improve the health of school children and aid in the realization of Universal Basic Education (UBE) goals. This study explored the opinions of heads of public primary schools on the implementation and policy benefits of NHGSFP in Enugu, southeast Nigeria.
Methods
This was a cross-sectional study conducted among 24 headmasters and headmistresses purposively selected from public primary schools in the Enugu metropolis. Qualitative data were collected through the use of a pretested Key Informant Interview (KII) guide, and analyzed using a thematic approach.
Results
All the participants were aware of the NHGSFP, which involved the provision of one mid-day meal per child per school day to the pupils, and all their schools were part of the programme. Most of the participants complained about the nutritional quality and quantity of the school meals which they felt were poor. None of the schools had a kitchen within the school premises, and all the participants admitted that deworming was not regularly carried out, as part of the programme. Most of the participants believed that the objectives of the feeding programme, including, reduced hunger among learners, increased school enrolment, attendance and enhanced participatory learning, were being met.
Conclusion
Although the NHGSFP was implemented in every school in Enugu metropolis, Enugu State, Nigeria, regular deworming of pupils was not carried out, and there were concerns about certain aspects of the implementation, such as inadequate funding and poor quality of school meals. Thus, there is a need for the introduction of deworming and more allocation of funds to the programme to improve the quantity and nutritional quality of school meals.
Publisher
Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Subject
Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health,Nutrition and Dietetics,Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism,Medicine (miscellaneous)
Reference38 articles.
1. United Nations System Standing Committee on Nutrition (UNSCN). Schools as a System to Improve Nutrition. A new statement for school-based food and nutrition interventions. 2017.
2. Tomlinson M. School feeding in east and southern Africa: Improving food sovereignty or photo opportunity? Regional Network for Equity in Health in Southern Africa (EQUINET) With support from SIDA Sweden [Internet]. 2007. Available from: https://www.equinetafrica.org/sites/default/files/uploads/documents/DIS46nutTOMLINSON.pdf
3. United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF). For Lack of Will: Child Hunger in Africa | UNICEF Global Development Commons [Internet]. [cited 2021 Apr 24]. Available from: https://gdc.unicef.org/resource/lack-will-child-hunger-africa
4. Amoran O, Kuponiyi O, Kuponiyi O. Head Teachers’ perception and practice about School Feeding Services in Public and private primary schools in Ogun State, Nigeria. Br J Educ Soc Behav Sci. 2016;13:1–11.
5. Falade OS, Otemuyiwa I, Oluwasola O, Oladipo W, Adewusi SA. School Feeding Programme in Nigeria: the Nutritional Status of Pupils in a Public Primary School in Ile-Ife, Osun State, Nigeria. Food Nutr Sci. 2012;5:96–605.
Cited by
1 articles.
订阅此论文施引文献
订阅此论文施引文献,注册后可以免费订阅5篇论文的施引文献,订阅后可以查看论文全部施引文献