13th Feburary 2010
School Feeding Programme – A Saving Grace For Primary School Children In Saint Lucia

The Government of Saint Lucia through the Ministry of Education and Culture continues to generously assist underprivileged Saint Lucian school children with its national School Feeding Programme and the patronized School Bus System. These are both community worthy projects being supported by the government for the benefit of several school children islandwide.
A large portion of funds had been disbursed under STABEX 1994 for this honourable pursuit. These funds were allocated under an agreement between the St. Lucian Government and the European Commission for Barbados and the Eastern Caribbean amounting to close to EC$2 million. This effort is also matched by government’s own annual monetary contribution of over EC$500,000 into this longstanding national project.
Essentially, providing a cooked nutritious meal has been found to increase school attendance while nurturing healthy school children with an alert mind, thereby contributing to the creation of a learning environment, which fosters a greater quality of education in Saint Lucia Over the years, the United Nations through its World Food Programme has also been assisting St. Lucia in that venture with the implementation of the School Feeding Programme.
Some 7000 school children receive a daily meal under the School Feeding Programme at Primary schools islandwide. One such school is the Gros Islet Primary School, where the longstanding cook is Ms. Nargine St. Hill - Biscette. She has been the loved and renowned cook at that school for over 14 years. She says, “many school children often come to school very hungry, even without breakfast and most can’t afford to pay the One Dollar ($1.00) required for a daily cooked meal at the school. All sorts of excuses are given by the children who can’t pay for their daily meal, such as mommy and daddy are broke. Ms. Biscette said : “Teachers are also required to pay the Two Dollars ($2.00) needed for their daily meal.”
Some 80 school children plus teachers are served cooked meals on weekdays under the School Feeding Programme at Gros Islet Primary School, She noted.
The intention has been to alleviate the problems of poverty, unemployment and food insecurity in rural communities. According to the Minister for Education and Culture, Hon. Arsene James, the programme also has some much desired spin-offs , “The School Feeding Programme does not provide children with ‘Corn Flakes’ and other imported food products. But instead provides the children with food grown and produced by our Saint Lucian farmers.” Minister James believes that there really is no better way to ensure the stabilization of exports, development of St. Lucia’s agriculture sector and to cultivate a taste for local agricultural produce.
The continuity of the School Feeding Programme became uncertain as it came to its conclusion in December1997. Government then had to provide funds for its continuation until the end of the last school year. Support was then solicited from the European Union to sustain its development and implementation.