Former education minister Maszlee Malik has reiterated the need to increase the current Supplementary Food Programme (RMT) rate, which can be funded by cutting down on the size of the bloated cabinet.
He said he first made this proposal during the Budget 2022 debate in the Dewan Rakyat late last year.
The Simpang Renggam MP had suggested at that time that the RMT rate, which is currently RM2.50 and RM3 per student in the peninsula and East Malaysia respectively, should be raised to RM4 and RM4.50.
However, he acknowledged that it probably needs to be increased even more now, with the rising inflation causing goods of necessities to escalate in recent months.
“That (suggested rate of RM4) was last year. Now (it needs to be increased) maybe even more,” Maszlee said when contacted by Malaysiakini today.
He said a reasonable increased rate would need to be discussed with the School Canteen Operators Association (PPKSM).
“(Then) get our minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit and his officers to work on that,” he said.
Lacking nutritious food
Previously, Warisan vice-president Junz Wong had expressed his shock over the revelation that primary students from the low-income B40 group only received plain fried yellow noodles and a piece of vegetables for their school breakfast.
He said this defeats the purpose of the RMT programme, which is supposed to improve the health, physical condition and nutritional practices of primary school students from the B40 group.
Pointing to the current RMT rate, he said it is not sufficient for school canteen operators to supply nutritious food to the students, as 450g of yellow noodles could cost between RM1.40 to RM2 while 200g of baby siew pak choy could cost between RM2 to RM2.60.
The meal could even cost up to RM5 if more items were to be added to it, such as chicken, a fried egg or a small box of milk, he said.
“The issue arising from RMT is not new… I totally have no clue what the BN, Perikatan Nasional (PN) and Gabungan Rakyat Sabah (GRS) government are doing all this while.
“Does the government really have no money to allocate more budget for the RMT programme? Or someone has pocketed the money initially allocated for the RMT programme for another use?” he questioned.
Wong also pointed out that there are no key performance indicators to keep track of the implementation of the RMT programme, which has caused it to become “third-class”.
“I’m sad to see what B40 primary school students received for breakfast.
“Instead of being busy forming an electoral pact for the anytime soon-to-be-held 15th general election, can the BN, PN and GRS government divert their attention by looking into this issue that will detrimentally impact the nutrition and health of our children?” Wong said.
‘Review food prices’
Meanwhile, PPKSM president Khairuddin Hamzah was earlier reported urging the Education Ministry to allow school administrators to review the food prices stipulated in their respective contracts.
He said the spike in the cost of raw food materials has greatly burdened the operators and the RMT rate of RM2.50 and RM3, which was set in 2015 and subsidised by the government, is no longer sufficient.
"It should be raised from RM4 to RM4.50 per student, the actual cost of one meal provided to each recipient.
"The RMT operators are suffering losses as the raw food ingredients themselves already cost RM2.50 per student. This does not include logistics costs, workers' pay and other costs.
"The operators are not profiting from this. Instead, it looks like they are the ones subsidising the RMT meals for the students," he reportedly said. - Mkini
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