The Federal Government has distributed 1.2 utensils to public primary schools in Kano to improve hygiene and safety during meals.
The Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Hajiya Sadiya Faruk, made this known on Wednesday during the distribution exercise at Kwalli Primary School in Kano metropolis.
The minister, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary of the ministry, Malam Bashir Alkali, said the utensils distribution was carried out under the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP).
Sadiya said that the exercise was President Muhammadu Buhari’s gesture to hand over the food utensils to Kano State Government for NHGSFP pupils to use.
“The NHGSFP is one of the four key interventions of the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP), which aims to increase children’s enrollment in schools and boost their nutrition,” he explained.
According to her, the Federal Government has so far fed around nine million students and hired more than 100,000 cooks across the country.
The minister added that many employment opportunities were being created within the school feeding programme.
According to her, the programme is designed to reduce poverty in all its forms, improve nutrition and reduce hunger in collaboration between federal and state governments.
Faruk, who reiterated FG’s commitment to the programme expressed happiness over the resumption of the feeding across the country, following a short halt caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
She noted that the Federal Government under President Buhari adopted social protection mechanisms to respond to the social and economic challenges caused by the pandemic.
Faruk said government would continue to roll out policies and strategies to strengthen, support and expand the programme.
Earlier, Gov. Abdullahi Ganduje thanked President Buhari and the minister for their passion and commitment to ensuring that students receive the best meals at school.
Represented by the Commissioner for Education, Malam Sanusi Kiru, Ganduje promised that the state government would distribute the utensils to the beneficiaries across the 44 local government areas of the state.
He appealed to the Federal Government to increase the number of pupils benefiting from the programme from 1.2 million to 2 million due to the population.
The governor said that the programme had increased school enrollment in the state as well as increasing the number of cooks from 9,000 to 12,000.
The Focal Person of NHGSFP, Malam Baba Aminu, restated the state and Federal Government’s commitment to sustain the programme.
He also commended the Buhari administration for his effort and stride in the education sector.
Some of the parents and pupils, who spoke at the event thanked government for the laudable programme. (NAN)
