Media Release
Minister of Education Debbie Schäfer
Western Cape

25 April, 2016

Food Garden success in Scottsdene an example for all Schools.

Statement by Minister Debbie Schäfer, Minister of Education

Poverty and under-nutrition affect large percentages of our population. And as a result, many learners arrive at school hungry. It is a proven fact that you cannot teach a hungry child.

This is why the Western Cape Government is committed to ensuring that learners from poorer households receive not just one, but two nutritious meals at school every day.

The NDP states that 'By 2030, feeding schemes in schools should cover all children in need, and provide food that is high in nutritional content and rich in vitamins'.

The Western Cape Province is on track to achieve this goal. Our successful school nutrition programme has expanded year on year to assist more and more learners. In addition to supplying food, the scheme encourages food production, for example, in school food gardens, and education on nutrition.

A total of 473 770 learners from 1 015 schools currently receive two nutritious meals in the Western Cape every day. This includes all Quintile 1-3 schools, 310 Quintile 4 and 5 schools serving learners in poorer communities, and 44 special needs schools.

The DBE classifies schools in five categories called quintiles, with the schools serving poorest communities in Quintile 1, and the least poor in Quintile 5.

The scheme is now also feeding targeted learners at primary and secondary schools in Quintiles 4 and 5.

The department has designed the menus to ensure that children receive adequate nutrition that they need to learn and play.

Menus are designed by dieticians to improve the general nutritional status of the children and consist of warm, cooked meals.

There are five different menus for each day of the week. The menus typically include rice, samp, soya mince, a protein, fruit, vegetables, bread, jam, peanut butter and cereals.

This programme has expanded year on year, with allocations to the feeding scheme having more than doubled since 2009/2010. This year is no different. The amount allocated to the feeding programme for the 2016/2017 financial year is just over R315 million.

I have however recently expressed my serious concern regarding the increasing cost of certain food items such as maize, as a result of the drought we are experiencing across South Africa. This has already led to unexpected increases in costs for feeding scheme food items.

Despite these increases, the Western Cape Government is committed to ensuring that our poorer learners continue to receive two nutritious meals at school every day.

We are encouraged to see that some schools are creating innovative projects to further supplement their school feeding needs. Cavalleria Primary School in Scottsdene is one such school. They have created an extraordinary food garden which is an excellent example of the kind of innovation that we wish to see in our schools.

Cavalleria Primary School is a quintile 5 no-fee school that caters for many primary school learners from disadvantaged communities.

The feeding scheme provides for 330 learners from the school, with the food garden producing enough supplementary food to feed 600 learners.

The garden was created in 2010, and produces supplementary fresh fruits and vegetables daily, such as tomatoes, figs, prunes, plums, peaches, grapes, strawberries, eggplant, cabbage, carrots, tomato, cauliflower, spinach and spring onions, as well as a variety of herbs.

School Principal, Mr Carolissen is proud of what's been achieved with the food garden. He says that it has contributed to the improved health of the learners, and benefitted his school by providing healthy and organic fruit and veggies almost daily. He says that his 'learners have improved concentration in class which has led to improved participation, which in turn has led to improved results. The educators also use the garden as an extension of their classrooms for specific lessons and concepts.' Learners will often assist in the garden and by doing so, expand their knowledge. Many learners from the school have since started their own food garden at home.

He has also noticed an improvement in school attendance.

In addition to feeding their learners, the school also donates surplus food when it can to needy households and institutions within the community.

This is a remarkable achievement and one of which I am very proud. I must congratulate Mr Carolissen and his team at Cavalleria Primary School for their commitment to this innovative and creative initiative. This is an excellent example of leadership in our schools and how we can find ways in which to assist our learners - not only to provide them with a meal, but also to improve learning and attendance at schools.

I would love to see more schools adopt this approach.

Media enquiries:
Jessica Shelver
Spokesperson for the Minister of Education, Debbie Schäfer
Western Cape Education Department
Tel: 076 175 0663