Over 1.3 million students to benefit from school feeding program

More than 1.3 million students are going to benefit from the national school feeding program during the first half year of 2018, the Ministry of Education disclosed.

The Minister Dr. Tilaye Gete said the government has allocated over 289.4 million Birr for the program that aimed to help students stay in schools and reduce the burden of parents.

The Minister said that students who are displaced from their villages due to the drought and the recent clashes will get special attention. In addition to students affected by the drought and clashes, the program will be implemented in areas where education coverage is low.

Noting that primary students were the major focus groups of the program, Tilaye said this year, the program will embrace secondary school students. Ethiopia is implementing the national school feeding program at schools as part of the National School Health Nutrition Strategy.

The program being implemented in collaboration with partner organizations is targeted to minimize school dropout rate, absenteeism and poor academic performance.

Original source: Government of Ethiopia
Published on 19 December 2017