The Cabinet Secretary for Education Ezekiel Machogu and Nairobi County Governor Sakaja Johnson signed an Intergovernmental Partnership Agreement (IPA) to undertake a school feeding program, “Dishi Na County” for public primary and secondary junior schools in Nairobi.
The program targets to cushion parents, keep children in school, increase enrollment and transition to higher learning institutions in public primary schools and Early Childhood Development Centres (ECDs) across 17 sub-counties in the county.
“The partnership agreed to collaborate in the development of conducive teaching and learning experience in public primary schools in the Nairobi City County, beginning with a programme for the provision of school meals within the said County, to improve the health and nutrition status of the learners” reads parts of the provision in the agreement.
Speaking during the signing of the agreement at the Ministry of Education offices, The Education Cabinet Secretary Hon Ezekiel Machogu assured the national government will acquire consolidated funds to boost 50% of county school feeding program.
“As the national government, we shall acquire consolidated funds to support 50% of Nairobi county school feeding program. We are going to cover all the county public schools, ECDs and junior secondary schools” said CS Machogu.
“The government of Kenya has been providing the school feeding program in 26 counties in northern part of the country. And we realized that not only aforesaid particular counties that are in need of this program. The governor of Nairobi and the president identified a great need in the county of Nairobi that also require a similar school feeding program” He added.
Governor Sakaja stated that school feeding noble initiative intends to feed about 250,000 children in public schools in Nairobi county.
“The schools feeding program intends to feed a quarter of million children in public primary schools and ECDs in Nairobi County. This is a great step of fulfilment to the serious election pledge the president made the children of Kenya as well as county manifesto” said Governor Sakaja.
He noted that the county government prioritized education especially in public schools targeting 100% enrollment of children in schools.
Sakaja also stressed that each child in public primary school will get 650gm of hot and nutritious balanced diet meal each day.
The National Treasury and Economic Planning Cabinet Secretary Prof Njuguna Ndung’u was also present during the signing of IPA.
This IPA is a collaboration between the two levels of governments, County and National, and does not translate to transfer of any functions and/or power of the National Government to the Nairobi City County Government.
The county is currently developing 10 central kitchens in Kayole 1, Njiru, Baba Dogo, Bidii, Toi, Muthangari, Farasi Lane, Racecourse and Kwa Njenga primary schools.
He also added that the introduction of the program has created jobs to 298 people and seeks to add another 2000 jobs upon completion including parents who will work in the kitchens.
“We have budgeted for this program Ksh1.7B that includes ksh500M for the remaining kitchens and structures that had not been done as well as the daily subsidy,” he added.
The county promised to serve the first meal to public school children on the first day of opening third term, 2023 of the school calendar.