How School Feeding Programs Affect Attendance and Performance in Nigerian Primary Schools
Education is the tool for the future. Children need school education for their mental and physical development. In many Nigerian regions poverty and hunger stop children from going to school.
Children miss school to help their parents with food and many families can’t feed their members. The school feeding programs established by Nigerian government and private organisations are to address this problem.
The programs give free food to children within school hours. This program targets three goals by giving lunch to families and increase student presence in schools.
Through school feeding children can continue their education because of nutrition and get better grades. School food distribution encourage children to come to school regularly and focus better in class.
How School Feeding Programs Affect Attendance and Performance in Nigerian Primary Schools
The article looks at the pros and cons of school feeding before giving recommendations on how to improve.
How School Feeding Affects Attendance
Attendance is a major problem in Nigerian schools. Hunger is one of the reasons why children don’t go to school. Eligible young students stay at home because their parents can’t provide food for them and so their parents keep them from school attendance. Kids are sent to do household works and farm and market labor instead of going to school. High level of student absence leads to low student enrollment in schools.
Children go to school more when school feeding is available. Children attend school more if they know they will get food at school. The absence of food at school gives parents peace of mind so they no longer have to think of an extra meal for their child. The problem is more pronounced in rural areas because poverty is high.
Schools with nutrition programs have proven to have better classroom attendance than unfed schools. Schoolchildren whose schools have feeding programs are more organized each day and present in class for a longer duration during the term. Enrollment in schools has increased because of school feeding. The price of schooling was too high for some parents until education became affordable so they now choose education for their children.
How School Feeding Programs Improve Academic Performance
Food shortage makes it impossible for children to focus in school classes. Deprived children cannot pay attention in class and also cannot understand and memorize information. A child thinking about food loses focus and cannot even notice what the teacher is teaching. The result is underperformance in school and poor grades.
Problem of concentration in children is solved because school feeding programs provides nutritional benefits for learning activities. School-fed children remain active and alert and can fully participate in class activities. Eating well improves their memory and also boosts their performance in tests and exams. Students eat better in school because they show improved answer to questions and can finish their work on time.
Nutritional quality feeds childhood brain development. Vitamins and minerals in meals stimulates mental growth. The state of a child’s nutrition determines their intellectual performance because well-fed children are more creative and have faster reaction time and better problem solving skills. Long term eating in school results to improved school performance for students.
Other Benefits of School Feeding Programs
Apart from improving attendance and performance, school feeding programs has other benefits:
- Undernutrition has affected many children in Nigeria. The combination of food available in schools provides all the necessary dietary needs of students to be healthy. The program reduces hospital visits and illnesses among school children.
- Girls are denied education in some parts of Nigeria.lazy parents usually prefer to give education to boys over girls. School feeding programs increases parent enrollment of daughters in school because they know such programs provides food services.
- When schools implement school feeding programs they become a buyer to local farmers. Schools buy their food products of rice, beans, vegetables and eggs from farmers within their communities. The local economy grows because of this program and jobs are created.
- Due to economic reason some children decides to work instead of going to school. School meals make parents let their children go to school instead of work because they no longer need to worry about food.
Challenges of School Feeding Programs
Despite the benefits, school feeding programs in Nigeria have challenges. Some of these are:
- Government and private organizations provide funds for school feeding but sometimes the funds are delayed or insufficient. This disrupts the program.
- Some schools don’t manage the feeding program well. Food meant for children is stolen or sold.
- Some schools don’t get enough food and there are shortages. In some cases children get small portions that don’t meet their nutritional needs.
- In some schools the quality of food given to children is poor. Some meals lack nutrients for growth and learning.
- In some cases those in charge of school feeding programs mismanage funds. This hinders schools from providing meals regularly.
How to Improve School Feeding Programs
To make school feeding programs better and work, do the following:
- Government should allocate more money to school feeding and ensure funds are released on time. Private organizations can also support by donating food and money.
- Schools should have monitoring system to ensure food gets to the children and is not diverted. Independent bodies should check how the program is run.
- Nutricious meals should be offered to the student, one way to achieve that is for the school to work with well-trained nutritionists to suggest, guide, and give direction on how to prepare the appropriate meals for children.
- Parents, teachers and local farmers should be involved in school feeding programs. This will ensure smooth operation and accountability.
- More schools especially in rural areas should be included in the program so more children can benefit.
Conclusion
One way to improve education in Nigeria is through school feeding programs. They improve academic performance, school attendance and other social and economic benefits. To make the program work however, issues of money, bad management and corruption must be addressed. Many Nigerian children’s lives can be changed by school feeding programs with the right adjustments giving them the food and education they need for a better future.
Another Useful Article:
The Negative Effect of Junk food in Schools and Why It Should Be Ban
