Investing in School Feeding is Investing in a Nation’s Human Capital
Dr Jose Ramos-Horta, President of Timor-Leste
There is a lot of excitement and mirth at the EBC123 Manleuana School in Dili, Timor-Leste on 24 June. This day is not like any other normal school day for the children and staff, a lot of preparations are underway to welcome President Hose Ramos Horta to the school.
The President along with the Minister of Health and WFP representatives were provided with an intensive tour of the school where they visited classrooms, a newly constructed kitchen, WASH facilities, and a library with IT equipment.
“Timor-Leste is a young country with a very young population. Our youth are full of aspirations but for that access to education and nutritious food is key, especially in Timor-Leste, where malnutrition is impeding our children’s true potential” said President Horta. “I am happy to be here and see WFP supported School Meals Programme and infrastructure augmentation is helping our children learn better” he added.
It’s lunchtime at the EBC 123 Manleuana School and today’s lunch menu includes rice, curried beef, and spinach that have been sourced from local farmers. While the cooks heat up the food, the President is in the kitchen, getting ready to serve lunch to the school kids.
“School feeding is a good investment in a nation’s future that provides nutrition, health and education for every child,” said Horta. “The provision of school meals increases enrolment and importantly prolongs girls’ education as it encourages girls to stay in school and is a powerfully effective way of preventing early marriage” he added.
Today, many girls like Garcia, come to school regularly where they can benefit from education and also receive nutritious food purchased from local farmers.
“My parents used to give me USD 10 cents to buy food during lunchtime. However, that money was barely enough to buy enough food for lunch” says Garcia. “My favourite meal is the Friday lunch which consists of green beans, rice and milk. It’s really delicious and it’s something I rarely eat at home” she added.
The School Meals Programme in Timor-Leste has been implemented since 2005 as part of WFP operations and benefited students from grades 1–9 until the programme was taken over by the Ministry of Education in 2011. In 2021, the Government expressed its commitment to expanding the National School Feeding programme by signing the declaration of commitment for the School Meals Coalition (SMC) through the Prime Minister’s Office.
“As a member of the Global School Meals Coalition, I would like to urge the Government and WFP to work together towards building a strong foundation for our children. I envisage a Timor-Leste where every child has the opportunity to go to school, access healthy food so that they can learn better, and acquire an education in a conducive environment by 2030” he further added.
The Timor-Leste Food and Nutrition Survey conducted in 2020 indicated the prevalence of very high stunting rates amongst children under 5, 47 per cent i.e., every second child is stunted. The situation was further exacerbated by COVID-19 school closures that disrupted critical education, health and nutrition services delivered in and through schools, causing a learning crisis yet to be fully resolved. Furthermore, the 2021 floods and the recent food and fuel price rise due to the ongoing Ukraine crisis have made it difficult for the most vulnerable to access nutritious food. During such crises, the social safety net programme such as School Meals Programmes helps support the nutritional health and wellbeing of children as well as contribute to academic performance.
“We need to invest in our ‘human capital to develop this country so that our future generations are healthy and well educated to get jobs, start businesses, and are able to contribute to the economic development of our beloved country” he added.
