School Feels Like Home When Meals Are Part of Daily Routine

Schools have reopened after the holidays and being there on the first day is renewed joy for children. 

From an obligation to appease parents and elders, the school has become a second home for pupils who feel connected to a learning environment that offers school meals to nurture minds and bodies. 

However, attendance wasn’t always the priority for students who dropped out of school before the end of year, which undermined their academic achievement. 

Hilário, 5th grade student, testifies how the introduction of school meals provided by World Vision – Mozambique changed the way students relate to school.

“Students used to skip classes or give up during the year. But since the beginning of school meals, everything is different. I am happy because even if I don’t eat at home, there is always food at school,” said Hilário.

Before the school clerk rings the bell, the hallways are filled with laughter from children who play and share how they passed their vacations. The smoke coming from the kitchen stove indicates that lunch time is approaching. As usual, the kitchen volunteers assemble the main ingredients – fortified rice, lentils, salt, oil and vegetables – to make notorious meals for children who can sense the aroma from the classroom.

During the holidays, aside from playing with his friends, Hilário also helped his parents to prepare the farm for the next harvest season. At home, the family ensures that the boy has a balanced diet. “My mother prepares cassava porridge with green leaves and sometimes potatoes that I also enjoy, and at school the meals give me energy”.

Parents and caregivers whose children benefit from school meals embraced this program with a sense of ownership and they also ensure that meals are always available and served on time.

“We contribute for the school meals by providing salt, utensils like plates and cooking wood. And whenever necessary, we make reparations to the canteen where children take their meals”, said a parent. He added that the long-term benefit of school meals can be seen in the way children are motivated to learn, which improves their literacy skills. 

Recent studies found that school meals are a proven, scalable and rights-based intervention that combats child hunger, improves educational outcomes, and strengthens local food systems [1].

Through the Partnering for Sustainable Education Outcomes (PARES), World Vision – Mozambique and consortium partners provide daily school meals to over 85,000 students in 157 primary schools across Monapo and Meconta districts (Nampula province), and Milange district (Zambézia province).

Programs like PARES generate benefits like boosting school attendance and preventing undernutrition, in the context where chronic malnutrition affects 44.6% of children under the age of 5 in Zambezia.

The school meals are funded by the McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Chil Nutrition Program of the United States Department of Agriculture. Through PARES, World Vision firmly believes that every school meal is an investment in a child’s education, health and future.