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The Democratic Alliance (DA) today marks the end of National Nutrition Week by presenting our ‘Food for Thought' document charting the performance of the ANC-government with regards to the National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) and presenting our own 5-step solution for addressing the problems associated with the programme as currently conceived.

A copy of the document is available online.

Hundreds of thousands of South African children go to school on empty stomachs every day. Children who are hungry cannot learn; the truth of this is evident in our classrooms, where teachers constantly struggle to hold the attention of under-nourished learners, and in a multitude of studies conducted by the government, NGOs and research groups which point to the negative consequences of poor nutrition on the learning ability of children.

The DA's Five-Point Plan

Thus, the DA has devised a 5 point plan to improve school nutrition programmes, and ensure that they are properly managed and that they encompass healthy lifestyle programmes. This plan is underpinned by the twin themes of positive hygiene and good nutrition habits at the school level:

1. Beating Procurement Corruption:

The scourge of corruption needs to be addressed decisively, most especially in the procurement and tendering processes. Under a DA administration, each provincial government will initiate an independent audit of their nutrition programme to examine delivery rates and health and nutritional aspects. The DA will also increase oversight over the programme by establishing a Monitoring & Evaluation inspectorate that reports directly to Parliament on matters relating to the NSNP. Such an inspectorate would help to ensure accountability and expose corruption.

2. Promotion of healthy habits:

The DA will ensure that teachers undergo an accredited short course developed to help them teach learners the value of good hygiene basics and help them to incorporate these practices as a learned routine. This aspect of hygiene would be incorporated into the school curriculum, as it represents skills crucial to a child's development. Schools will also be provided with printed material that conveys hygiene messages and is displayed in classrooms as a standard, and not the exception. Food handlers will receive training on an ongoing basis in accredited institutions on matters relating to hygiene and the storage and preparation of foods. The DA believes training should address three critical components, hand washing, clean uniforms, and sanitising practices.

3. Health and nutrition services in the classroom:

The DA will engage with various stakeholders, including the departments of health, social development and education, to create a small and focused interdepartmental partnership that would periodically bring health and social development practitioners out to schools where they are needed the most for general check-ups and consultation visits.

4. Community participation:

The DA will take steps to ensure that the community at large is involved in reviving the NSNP, under a participation drive called "my child is your child". Local parents and as well as community members will be given preference in the allocation of tenders for school meal preparations, and they will receive tailored and specific training along with regular guidance from the proposed partnership's dietician assigned to oversee the district.

5. Expanded reach for the NSNP:

We would increase the budget allocated to each learner for meals from the current average of R1.80 per learner to R2.30 per learner, as this would significantly increase the scope for increasing the range of meals. This strategy would expand the programme to include an early morning snack for learners, and if a specific learner participates in extra-mural sport activities, introduce a take-home meal pack after games, which could cost an estimated extra R925 million per annum.

Finally, our Food for Thought document addresses the problems with the way that quintiles are determined. Rather than basing the decision on the quintile a particular school belongs to on the economic situation of the surrounding community, the decision should be made on a more nuanced basis, taking into account factors such as school fees, number of teachers and other factors that are relevant to the school's economic status.

Some of the Problems

The NSNP was originally touted by the national government as a Presidential Lead Project of the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP). Despite this, it was not well funded, and there was a 15.4% drop in the number of participating schools between 1995 and 2003. In 1995, the national government consolidated a range of different feeding schemes and established the Primary School Nutrition Programme (PSNP), which was placed under the administration of the Department of Health. The current model of the NSNP, administered by the Department of Education, commenced in 2004 and is funded by means of conditional grants from the National Treasury. In the current financial year, the NSNP has an estimated total budget of R3.7 billion.

The NSNP has been characterised by numerous challenges, many of which have not been addressed by the national government because of an apparent lack of political will.

Perhaps the most revealing demonstration of the way in which the NSNP has been managed nationally relates to the chronic under-spending that has occurred. The NSNP has in the five financial years since 2005/06 been allocated more than R7.6 billion. However, over R215 million has gone unused. These unused funds could have fed an extra 850 209 school children over this period.

This is, unfortunately, not the only concern relating to the programme's finances. The NSNP is subject to legislation governing its administration, such as the Division of Revenue Act, the Public Finance Management Act, and the very specific requirements for the nutrition programme as set out in the NSNP Implementation, Monitoring and Reporting Manual. However, like many other examples of programmes administered by the national government where tenders are involved, the implementation of measures aimed at ensuring accountability seem to have taken a back seat.

There are numerous examples of school feeding scheme tenders that have been awarded in an irregular fashion. For example, multiple tenders are prone to be awarded to the same individuals, either through one company or a web of linked companies. A Pubic Service Commission (PSC) report on the NSNP, released in 2008, notes that this practice is often accompanied by contractors cutting costs to maximise their profit margins.

There are also problems with the classification system used to determine the beneficiaries of the programme. National guidelines limit the benefits of the programme to schools in the first three quintiles of schools, ignoring the fact that there are learners in schools from quintiles 4 and 5 that are undernourished and would benefit from the programme. Some provinces have attempted to expand the programme to higher quintile schools. However, roll-out has proved difficult.

Over and above the limits placed by the national department of education with regards to quintile schools that may benefit, we were disappointed to find that there is also a serious problem of many schools being misplaced into higher quintiles, yet have many poor students who need to benefit from the NSNP.

Even for those schools that do benefit, there are concerns that what is actually provided is inadequate. The department of education claims that each supplier is given a detailed form with the quantity of raw ingredients to be used to prepare meals on a per-learner basis; it also indicates the size of the meal portions to be served to each learner. However, due to inadequate and untargeted monitoring and evaluation by the department, some of the requirements set out in the guidelines are not met. This results in unscrupulous catering contractors being granted tenders to provide food, but not actually providing food that meets the requirements.

There have been successes of the programme. The Western Cape provides feeding which is above the national norm, and the administration of the programme is efficient and corruption free. Over 360 000 learners are provided with nutritious meals on a daily basis at 1004 targeted primary and secondary schools. The quality of meals has also been increased. Learners receive cooked meals on every school day and menu options include fresh fruit and vegetables as well as tinned fish, among others.

We need a concerted effort to address the nutritional needs of the learners in our schools. Children cannot learn if they are hungry and under-nourished. The government should realize that education is a holistic experience in which each variable that can impact upon the performance of a child in school should always be carefully assessed, measured and addressed. We owe it to our children and they deserve nothing less.