Government to issue free snacks at schools
Government to issue free snacks at schools
JAKARTA (JP): The government will launch an ambitious plan to
improve the health of school children this year by distributing
high-protein snacks free at primary schools.
State Minister for National Development Planning Ginandjar
Kartasasmita yesterday announced details of the scheme, which
will be introduced in phases, starting with selected provinces
and eventually covering all schools, private and government by
2003.
Ginandjar yesterday reported on the program to President
Soeharto at the latter's Jl. Cendana residence. He was
accompanied by Minister of Home Affairs Moch. Yogie SM, Minister
of Agriculture Syarifudin Baharsyah, Minister of Food Ibrahim
Hassan, Minister of Religious Affairs Tarmizi Taher and Minister
of Education and Culture Wardiman Djojonegoro.
Ginandjar explained that undernourishment is still prevalent
among Indonesian children.
He presented some bleak statistics.
Indonesia has an infant mortality rate of 58 per 1,000 births,
the highest among members of the Association of Southeast Asian
Nations, while 40 percent of under-fives in Indonesia are
undernourished. A 1994 survey of 600 primary school pupils in 27
provinces found that the growth of many children has been stunted
because of undernourishment. Between 30 and 40% of all children
in Indonesia suffer from anemia, and between 50 and 80% have
worm-related diseases.
Supplement
Ginandjar said the government program is intended to
supplement children's food intake with high-protein snacks.
The government set conditions on the kind of snacks that
schools can give their pupils.
They should have at least 300 calories and five grams of
protein, representing about 15% of the minimum calorie and
protein intakes a child should have every day.
The cost of their production must not exceed Rp 250 a piece in
western Indonesia or Rp 350 in eastern Indonesia.
They must be handed out at least three times a week, and be
made with products grown and bought locally, not tinned products.
This year, the program will be implemented in poor villages
outside Java and Bali, covering over 2.1 million pupils, or 15
percent of the number of primary-school age children in the
country.
Ginandjar estimated that the program will cost Rp 70 billion
($30 million) this year.
The program will be expanded gradually, and schools in Java
and Bali will begin to be included in 2000/2001.
By 2002/2003, the government hopes the program can cover all
primary schools in the country, and cover 29.28 million pupils.
(emb)