Times Of Swaziland: PUPILS’ HEALTH AT RISK AFTER EATING ROTTEN FOOD

PUPILS’ HEALTH AT RISK AFTER EATING ROTTEN FOOD
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Joseph Zulu on 29/01/2019 08:55:00


PIGG’S PEAK – The delay in delivering of food to schools is putting
pupils’ health at a high risk of eating contaminated and rotten food.
Some of the food supplied to schools was delivered last year around September.
Though some of the schools still have the food from last year, head teachers are
complaining that the food had become rotten due to improper storage. “We need
fresh food urgently,” they said. This is the concern which some of the head
teachers raised but declined to comment on record for fear of victimisation.
“We are still using the food we were given last year and some of it is not in
good condition but what can we do?” asked a head teacher.
He said this was the situation in many schools in rural areas because unlike in
urban areas, pupils there did not have breakfast at home. The head teachers said
the food had already been stored in Matsapha for a long time before it was
delivered to schools. “It was already in a bad state when we received it,” a
head teacher from one of the local schools alleged. He wondered what caused the
delay in delivering the food, adding that transport should not be a problem. The
head teachers suggested that there were many private ‘for hire’ vehicles
which could be used to deliver the food to schools, so that pupils could have
some healthy meals.
They expressed concern that in some schools, the storage was very poor such that
it was not right to keep the food for a long time. “Our storage is usually
damp because of the poor construction of the structures, so the food is now
contaminated but we are forced to use it,” said one of the head teachers.
Problem
He said the problem was mainly with the beans, as well as the mealie meal. Some
of the schools are already contemplating asking for more money from parents for
the purchasing of food.
“In these rural schools, it is impossible for us to teach without giving food
to the pupils because for many, this is their only healthy meal,” said another
head teacher. The head teacher even suggested that he was willing to fetch the
food than to wait. Apart from the challenges related to the rotting food,
schools were operating normally at Pigg’s Peak. Pupils were in class and
teachers were also seen conducting lessons.