The Kaduna state government has expressed shock and sadness over the recent trend of primary school pupils disappearing from schools after eating free meals.
Kaduna State Government has expressed shock as pupils of the various schools have developed a bad habit of deserting schools after eating free meal offered by the government.
It has been discovered that the primary school pupils now run away from school immediately after eating free meal under the guise of going to drink water.
The worrisome trend has become a source of worry for the government.
The state’s Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr. Shehu Adamu, revealed this to newsmen in Kaduna. He begged parents to help their children by sending them back to school when they return home at unusual school hours.
He said: “The main goal of the school feeding programme is to attract out-of-school children to school and keep them in class for them to acquire education and better their lives. “We will not allow a situation where children will just come to school and leave the moment they finished eating their meals; if it is about water, we have already asked parents to provide water for their children.
“Therefore, parents have a responsibility of ensuring that the children do not only come to school on time, but remain in school till closing hours.”
While speaking on the delay in paying vendors supplying food under the programme, he said they had been directed to open account with Heritage Bank through which they would be getting their payments.
He revealed that the bank will execute other necessary procedures to ensure that the vendors get their money.