Secondary teachers welcome continuation and expansion of school lunch programme
“We are pleased the Ka Ora Ka Ako school lunch programme will continue in its current form for the rest of the year, and will be expanded to include thousands of two to five year olds next year,” says Chris Abercrombie PPTA Te Wehengarua president.
“Ensuring that one of kids’ most basic needs – to be fed properly – is met each day at school gives them a much better chance of being able to learn and achieve. We’re particularly pleased that the programme will continue in its current form for the rest of this year – schools will be breathing a sigh of relief.”
Chris Abercrombie said it was surprising that the Government was taking two years to review the lunch programme. “This Government has been extremely critical of other governments for being slow with reviews and initiatives – two years seems a very long amount of time for this particular review.
“Schools need certainty and work should be focused on expansion of the programme – the more children and young people who can be guaranteed lunch each day, the better.”
Chris Abercrombie said teachers were concerned the new bulk purchasing system could reduce schools’ ability to respond to the particular needs of their communities. “We will have to see how it rolls out but it’s really important that meeting students’ needs continues to be at the heart of Ka Ora Ka Ako.”
“The best way to make sure there’s no waste is to make sure the food is what kids want to eat. Schools that make their lunches in-house are the ones that report the highest level of satisfaction with the programme and we don’t want that to be lost.”