Thank you very much Mr. Speaker Sir.  I stand to move a motion from the report of the Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education.  This report is in connection with a petition that you have forwarded to the Committee.  The petition is one that is coming from Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) and as you would know Mr. Speaker Sir, in terms of Section 149, we are required as a Committee when you refer a petition to us to make sure that we deal with it.

          Section 149 of the Constitution on the Right to petition Parliament, provides that “every citizen and permanent resident of Zimbabwe has a right to petition Parliament to consider any matter within its authority, including the enactment, amendment or repeal of legislation”.

          The Portfolio Committee on Primary and Secondary Education received a petition from Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA), on the School Feeding Programme (SPP) and the Petitioner (s) made the following prayers;

1.             The need for parliamentary oversight regarding best interests of the children as regards the SPP, to be studied and gaps in the policy identified;

2.             Engage the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education (MoPSE) to fully implement the School Feeding Programme according to their strategic plan, constitutional provisions and regional treaties.  The Ministry to ensure that all associated costs are identified and all schools adhere to policy adopted;

3.             Enhance the nutritional value of meals through greater diversity and where possible, MoSPE must ensure there are alternative sources of food that do not require cooking ;

4.             Ensure a fully resourced feeding scheme, complete with grain and relish that come at no cost to the parents, ensuring children’s learning interest, became paramount;

5.             The SPP to be uniformly implemented in all school, urban and rural to encourage retention of learners and reduce the school dropout rate;

6.             Ensure holistic and multi stakeholder consultative approach, so as to make schools an important agricultural development nerve centre with water, food and agricultural innovations that bring food sovereignty to their community and;

7.             Ensure that MoPSE audits all school, to determine access to water and cause to be prepared a School Water Access Action Plan in coordination with the relevant Ministries.  The school Water Action Plan must provide sufficient access to water for the development of school Nutrition Gardens.  Dams and Irrigation systems are paramount if the New Competency Curriculum can facilitate the practical learning of agriculture as a subject.

OBJECTIVES

The Committee’s main goal was to respond to the petition on the basis of the demands made by the Petitioner and report back to the august House. Additional objectives were to;

Appreciate the challenges being faced in the implementation of the School Feeding Programme and to offer recommendations for policy improvements.

METHODOLOGY

          The Committee conducted field visit to purposively selected schools in Matabeleland South, Bulawayo Metropolitan and Matabeleland North, in line with the dictates of the petitioners.

          The Committee had discussions with School Development Associations, parents and teachers.  In addition, the Committee also interacted with children and observed pupils as they go through the actual feeding processes.

          Although the petition made reference to SFP in Matabeleland and Metropolitan, the Committee took advantage of the field visits to schools to assess compliance and implementation of the Standard Operating Procedure for COVID 19 pandemic.

          The Committee split into two teams and the other team took the opportunity to investigate the SFP in Masvingo, Manicaland and Mashonaland.

Team A

SCHOOL	DISTRICT	PROVICNE
Sitez Primary	Gwanda	Matabeleland South
Mhali Primary	Magwegwe	Bulawayo Metropolitan
Zibungululu Primary	Tsholotsho	Matabeleland North
Fudu Primary	Nkayi	Matabeleland North
Nyongolo Primary	Hwange	Matabeleland North

 Team B

SCHOOL	DISTRICT	PROVINCE
Matriore Primary	Bikita	Masvingo
Mashonjowa Priamry	Chimanimani	Manicaland
Bosbury	Chegutu	Mashonaland West
Bondamakare Primary	Mutoko	Mashonaland East
Mupandira	Madziva	Mashonaland Central

Committee Findings

–         Contributions towards relish, foreign currency required and majority of parents cannot afford.

–         Sustainability and frequency of food distribution was cited as a huge challenge for most beneficiary schools.

–         Challenges to collect the food stuffs from Government offices

–         Government only providing maize and/or rice without any relish

–         Parents bearing the burden to meet procurement of relish and other ingredients.

–         In the Southern region, only Mashonjowe Primary School was implementing the school feeding programme

COMMITTEE FINDINGS

–         Water availability situation throughout the schools visited shows a dire situation.

–         At Mhali and Sitezi Primary, availability of water constrains the preparation of food and learners were requested to bring their own water to school

–         Firewood was the main source of energy for cooking and particularly women were tasked to bring the firewood,

–         At Bondamakare Primary School, the SFP was not functional because firewood and water was a challenge in addition to food.

FOOD PREPARATIONS AND UTENSILS USED

–         Committee noted that those who prepare food did not go through any medical examination, posing a serious health disaster to the pupils.

–         Learners bring their own utensils e.g. at Sitezi Primary while other schools have their own utensils e.g. at Mhali Primary in Bulawayo Metropolitan.

–         Some schools expressed ignorance of the SFP, like Mhali School where the school Administration did not have clarity on those who cook, and did not have an idea where the food comes from.

–         At Bosbury Primary School, the school authorities noted that there was no specific staff employed to cook the food hence they relied on parents from the community.

          Majority of the schools visited indicated that labour was a serious challenge that affected the smooth running of the SFP.

COMMITTEE OBSERVATIONS

Whilst the field visits were conducted during the pinnacle of COVID-19 pandemic, the SFP appeared to be implemented in a normal way.  A situation which confirms that the Standard Operating Procedures do not specify new means of implementing the SFP.

The SFP was placing an extra burden on women both in urban and rural areas who are being requested to cook for pupils on voluntary basis as well as providing firewood and relish.

The SFP is discriminatory on the basis of contributions.  Children with parents who were failing to contribute towards transportation costs, among others, were being denied food, thereby working against the principles of SFP.

Structural unavailability of portable and clean water within school premises affected the preparation and serving of food and in some cases schools were using water that is not safe for drinking and an example is Sitezi Primary School.

That food supply is inconsistent thereby affecting the full implementation of the programme.

Schools were facing the challenge of relish and this was affecting the provision of a balanced nutritious diet.

The SFP is currently being implemented for primary schools only and that secondary school learners are not benefitting which is inconsistent with the policy.

COMMITTEE RECOMMENDATIONS

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should commission a proper evaluation study of the SFP and report the findings to the august House before first term 2021 schools open.

The Standard Operating Procedures should be reviewed to take into account the SFP and outline clearly the process that should be followed in food preparation in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic before first terms 2021 schools open.

The Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education should consider procuring instant and prepared food such as porridge and mahewu to eliminate vigorous challenges of preparing food, unpaid labour, and energy unavailability and ensure adherence to the COVID-19 regulations by 30 June 2021.

Going forward, the Ministry should run tenders for producing and delivering of food requirements to the schools to avoid burdening parents with transport costs and subsequent discriminations.

That for vulnerable communities, secondary schools should benefit from the programme to ensure that learners attend school and reduce structured poverty by 30 June 2021.

The Ministry of Public Service, Labour and Social Welfare should reserve an allocation of food distribution to schools in vulnerable communities by 30 June 2021.

That the SFP in its current state was ineffective and unsustainable.

There is need for a comprehensive review of the SFP to take into account new developments including the challenges of COVID-19 pandemic, as such, the following should be considered.

          Hon. Misihairabwi-Mushonga presented a sample of the instant porrige meant for the school feeding programme to the Hon. Speaker to taste.