Enriched biscuits for 300,000 pupils
Enriched biscuits for 300,000 pupils
Sari P. Setiogi, Jakarta
About 300,000 elementary school students in the country,
particularly those who live in conflict areas, will soon be given
a daily ration of 50 grams of enriched biscuits at school, as
part of the UN World Food Program's (WFP) three-year plan to help
the government alleviate malnutrition in the country, the WFP
disclosed on Sunday.
According to WFP's country director Mohamed Saleheen, teachers
will distribute the biscuits directly to pupils, who must eat
them in class.
The program will start in August, and by the year's end it is
expected that 300,000 students will have benefited from it.
"For Rp 2,000 (U.S. 19 cents) we can provide one child with
fortified biscuits that will energize them at school," he said.
Saleheen said children in Poso, Central Kalimantan, Maluku,
North Maluku, West Kalimantan, Aceh and East Nusa Tenggara would
be the main recipients of the additional food. During the peak of
conflicts in the areas, more than 1.4 million people were forced
to flee their homes.
"Attendance rates and student performance can be increased
significantly by the availability of extra food at school.
Children no longer need to worry about food and can concentrate
more on their lessons -- and stay for the whole session," said
Saleheen, after officiating a fund-raising program in Jakarta.
Together with TNT Indonesia Express and Logistics, the WFP
organized a walk on Sunday, in which more than 500 people
participated.
"All the money raised from the walk will be used to help
Indonesian children. So it will be an activity supported
by Indonesians, for Indonesians," said managing director of TNT
Indonesia, Colin Moran.
According to Saleheen, the biscuits for the students are
locally produced.
"Other programs we run here are to provide raskin (cheap rice)
for the poor. At the moment, we are helping some 1.7 people in
slum areas," Saleheen told The Jakarta Post.
The WFP will also provide nutritious meals for expecting
mothers, he said. Those programs, as well as the school feeding
program, will continue until 2007.
When the Post left the event at about 10 a.m., the money
raised had reached Rp 76 million and a higher figure was
expected.
"We are hoping that this year we can help between 200,000 and
300,000 new children for the whole year in Indonesia," said
Moran.
According to the National Economic Survey held by the Central
Statistic Agency (BPS), malnutrition among children under the age
of five reached about 27 percent in 2002, among the highest in
the Asia-Pacific region, along with Myanmar, Laos and Cambodia.
Under its three-year plan, the WFP will implement a $115.36
million project called the Assistance to Recovery and Nutritional
Rehabilitation program.