Teachers Demand Answers as Students’ Well-being Suffers.
Teachers at an Eastern Cape school were left reeling as students began collapsing from hunger due to the education department’s failure to pay for the school nutrition programme. Despite some schools dipping into their cash reserves to feed pupils, the money has run out and they’ve been forced to buy food on credit from retailers such as AfriSave.
The delayed payment has had severe effects on the mental and physical well-being of pupils, causing teachers to take on the added cost of feeding some of the extreme cases.
The education department’s failure to pay the providers of the school nutrition programme has caused some schools to run out of funds to feed their pupils. This has resulted in severe consequences for the pupils and teachers of affected schools in the Eastern Cape.
Teachers Forced to Take on the Cost of Feeding Pupils
Due to the lack of funding for the school nutrition programme, teachers have been forced to take on the added cost of feeding pupils. This has put an additional financial strain on the teachers, some of whom have had to fork out money from their own pockets to feed their students.
Teachers at Joe Slovo Primary School have reported cases of pupils collapsing from hunger at school. While teachers deal with each case as it arises, they were not prepared to look for donations or get food on loan from service providers.
Schools Affected by the Funding Delay
Joe Slovo Primary School is not the only school affected by the funding delay in the Eastern Cape. Mfesane High School, Sivuyiseni Primary School, Samuel Nongongo Primary School, and Emzomncane Primary School are just a few of the other schools that have been impacted by the lack of funding.
The delay has affected the mental and physical well-being of pupils and caused teachers to take on the added cost of feeding some of the extreme cases. – heraldlive
Source Link Starving Eastern Cape Pupils Collapse at School
