National school meals programme targets 451,000 students — gov't

AMMAN — During the 2021-2022 school year, around 451,000 students in Jordan will benefit from the Education Ministry’s National School Meals Programme.

Education Ministry Spokesperson Ahmad Masaafah told The Jordan Times on Sunday that, “the programme seeks to improve the health and nutritional status of the most vulnerable Jordanian and refugee students in governmental schools”.

The spokesperson added that the nutritionally balanced meals will be given first to students between the first and sixth grades, as well as well as those in kindergarten. 

The programme will be in place at 2,316 schools in 34 education directorates, and three camps affiliated with United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA).

The World Food Programme (WFP) directly supports the Kingdom’s Ministry of Education in delivering the National School Meals Programme, according to the WFP website.

“Although Jordan is considered a food secure country with a score of 8.8 on the Global Hunger Index, food security is challenged by a multitude of structural and political factors such as high poverty rates, unemployment, slow economic growth and increased costs of living,” the programme's website says.

Around 6 per cent of the Kingdom’s population receives some form of WFP assistance and support, according to the programme's website.

Supported by the WFP, an 80-gramme fortified biscuit filled with dates will be provided every day to each student, in addition to a 45-gramme biscuit, high in protein, vitamins and minerals, produced by the Jordanian Armed Forces.