Opposition urges govt to resume free breakfast for school children

 

An opposition committee has urged the government to resume the free breakfast programme for all school children, whose nutritional development have been impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Pakatan Harapan and Opposition Parties Education Committee - headed by Simpang Renggam MP Maszlee Malik, also said the programme will benefit parents and canteen operators.

The free breakfast programme was mooted by Maszlee when he was education minister in 2019 as a way to provide nutritious meals to all students regardless of socioeconomic status.

However, in early 2020, then prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad scaled-down the programme to only benefit children from B40 households.

It was supposed to launch in January 2020 at 100 schools. When the day came, the programme was launched as an enhanced version of the supplementary food plan (RMT) instead.

Current Education Minister Radzi Jidin, when taking office, said he would have to study whether or not to continue the breakfast programme.

There has been no update from him on the matter. Schools have mostly been closed last year due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

However, under Budget 2021, the allocation for the RMT was increased from RM271.3 million to RM298.9 million. Schools are currently re-opening in phases now.

In their statement, the opposition committee said prior to the pandemic, almost 70 percent of schoolchildren did not eat breakfast on schooling days.

They said there were also various reports, including by Unicef and the Khazanah Research Institute, showing that many Malaysian children were malnourished.

"The free breakfast programme can be an intervention to ensure students get a nutritious breakfast throughout the year regardless of socioeconomic background.

Former education minister Maszlee Malik

"It will also benefit more than 2.4 million poor families throughout the country, including the M40 who have become B40 due to the pandemic," they said.

They added that 70,000 canteen operators will also benefit from the programme, as providing meals to children is their primary source of income.

Besides Maszlee, those on the committee include former deputy education minister Teo Nie Ching (DAP), Setiawangsa MP Nik Nazmi Nik Ahmad (PKR), Tampin MP Hasan Bahrom (Amanah), Tuaran MP Wilfred Madius Tangau (Upko), Muar MP Syed Saddiq Syed Abdul Rahman (Ind), Kubang Pasu MP Amiruddin Hamzah (Ind), and Kota Belud MP Isnaraissah Munirah Majilis (Warisan). - Mkini