Rural Reconstruction Foundation - A Non-Governmental Voluntary Deve...| School Feeding Program

School Feeding Program

Michael Dunford Deputy Country Director WFP

Around the world, More than 250 million people are affected by natural disasters every year. Disaster hits all countries, rich and poor. But it is the poor people who usually suffer the most. Because the poor live in unprotected or dangerous environments and they are less skilled to cope better with any sorts of natural hazards most often they can't bounce back quickly from accessing into the adversities and vulnerabilities. Their way of normal functioning gets hampered resulting in a dramatic social degradation and national problems as well. On the other hand Bangladesh is a developing country but accordance to the density of population it is big threat for the society, community, and also in Bangladesh. It is overlook that most of the people are living under ignorance which affects fall in our economy and also individual life.

The aim of the project is to enhance access of the hardcore poor families and their children into quality education as well as quality health system. A quality education can remove poverty, deprivation, de-humanization, injustices and violence from the existing society they are living in. Therefore providing institutional facilities the target children may be facilitated with prevention of malnutrition, deprivation and drop out from school.

On 15 November 2007 the devastating Sidr caused enormous destruction to the nature and assets of the project areas. A large number of people had been displaced from their areas causing millions of people homeless and asset less. The most sufferers were mothers, children and elderly of the hardcore poor families. Most primary school children uses to come to school with empty stomach /without breakfast as most families live hand to mouth depending on sale of their physical labor per day. They even cannot sell their labor daily. Their daily income is less than US$ 1.00 per day. So, they cannot arrange three times meal a day due to their extreme poverty. When children are hungry, they suffer severe malnutrition that prevents children's attention for education.

Therefore, in order to make sustainable change into the affected communities in an effective and efficient manner, the proposed project aims at facilitating enhanced access of the target children into quality education as well as quality health care services.

Food Assistance:
At Present 311959 students are getting 1 packet (7.5g) High Energetic Biscuits per school days, they were under malnutrition and also they were being deprived from the beginning of their education life. At present RRF are monitoring2187 schools in 1710 village 126 union and 14 Upazillas of Potuakhali, Barisal, Pirojpur & Bagerhat districts. Apart from this, RRF has been playing a role of reporting and monitoring of these areas

Survey:
At the outset of the project, the staffs of RRF surveyed the project areas as well as the schools in order to assess baseline information in terms of the needs (HEBs) and nutritional status of the final beneficiaries. The internal higher management of RRF as the Executive director, Deputy Executive Director and project coordinator supervised the all over survey activities.

Constraints & limitations:
The staffs of RRF worked with a team building approach to attain the qualitative and quantitative standards of the project in an effective and efficient manner. The higher management is consistently concerned about decision making of the activities implemented. A two-way information flow system has been developed to carry out activities in terms of constraints and limitations.

Staff Meeting for the Proper implementation

Project Implementation:
The implementation arrangement includes achieving maximum benefit for the children by cost effective delivery services, strengthening local institutions & local leadership to run this project. The following category of schools will fall under this program:

Government Primary Schools
Registered Non-Government Primary Schools
Community Primary Schools

A beneficiary school is being selected by WFP with the assistance of local administration and the local Primary Education Officer.

In addition, management of the school is being requested to maintain minimum operational standards to remain within the School Feeding Program. Such standards will include minimal infrastructure facilities (e.g. adequate and safe storage space, satisfactory hygienic/sanitation conditions, and access to drinking water source) and suitable teaching environment (e.g. presence of teachers, reasonable pupils/teachers ratio, and available schooling materials. Each child attending to classes will receive 75 grams of biscuits at early hour school on school day only. Children not attending school will not receive biscuits.

Distribution Process:
The distribution process of the HEBs includes transferring HEB first in the warehouses of the district level within the first week of every month, then from the mother schools at the union level all schools collect those. Afterwards the children are fed from there. The delivery team will be comprised of 1 Project Coordinator, 4 District Coordinator, 1 Accountant cum computer Operator and 35 Monitors who will remain responsible for delivery of HEB to schools and Monitor schools by monthly basis i.e. 2 times a month of a school. RRF will deliver HEB to the selected schools only (list given by DPEO).

Achievements and Limitations:
The effects of attendance and attentiveness enhanced positively by the intervention of FFE programs. In the year of 2009 the average attendance of the schools found 89% which is (89-56)33% higher than the beginning period. It has been observed that the drop-out children have returned to the school again. The teachers are anticipating that the attendance will be increased more than the present within few days.
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Missions:
Overall mission of the project includes encouragement and improvement of quality education, nutritional status and continuous school attendance for Primary School Children. WFP is in the forefront in promoting education of vulnerable children (esp. girls). The immediate objectives of the project are: To encourage continued school attendance & to prevent a recurrence of the surge of malnutrition rates

Goals:

To increase the Enrollment rate to the primary schools.
To increase the attendance rate of the students at school.
The decrease the drop out rate of the students from school.
To help the students concentrate to study.
To provide nutrition's food for their better growth avoiding malnutrition (HEB).
To discourage Child Labor.

Activities:
Under this program Rural Reconstruction Foundation distribute High Energy Biscuits during school hour to 311959 students of 2187 primary schools of 14 upzillas in 04 districts.

Distribution Report:

Each present student is provided with 75 gms HEB that contain vitamin and Iodized salt.
Mixed with Vitamin /Mineral premixes to 999 kgs of biscuits.
These biscuits recover 75% of vitamin and Iodized salt to the students of their daily needs.
Among the schools Government, Registered, Community is the main ones.
The target of this program is to ensure "Education for all'' and in the same time to nsure quality education.
High Energy Biscuits = HEB

Project Area:

Enrollment of Beneficiaries and Utilization report:

Songita's got way to brighten her life with the education

Songita Das a Poor helpless and unprivileged girl of a family in Pirojpur district, Zianagar upzila parerhat union . When its start getting dusk around the Natural disasters like ''SIDR" appears to them like life threatening forces. Like this on last 15th November ,2007 a terrible cyclone blown over them at midnight. Songita Das's house cattle's and other be longest were not spaced from this cyclone ''SIDR" all of their properties were washed away into the river. At last they had to take shelter on the government land.

Songita Das's father is Milon Chandro Das. His livelihood depends on messenger in the tea stall. Her's mother Dipali Rani Das sell Chanachur door to door. She is the third child of her five siblings. She is reading in grade 5 at 10 No Parerhat government primary school. Songita Das's one sister and one brother. Now time when she goes to school then call others for going to school. They are suffering many diseases of mal-nutrition.

After the ''SDIR" for lack of food Songita Das can't continue her schooling. In such condition, the World Food Program stats to distribute biscuits through the RRF at the Government, Registers and Community Primary School of Zia Nagar Upazila. To have this benefit Songita Das's starts her schooling and being attentive. Her mal-nutrition starts to get removed. She starts to become healthy. Now she dreams to be someone big in the future with the supports of other Organizations.

Lessons Learned:
Most often, the need is for a period of more than one "cycle" of children. WFP works in the poorest areas of the world's most vulnerable countries. One basic education cycle is not enough to ensure a level of economic and social development where external assistance is no longer required to sustain the education system.

From the past experience it has been observed that if the community is animated with sustainable and need based interventions of project in an effective and efficient manner the beneficiaries in terms of goal and objectives can be changed by themselves.