El-Rufai budgets N2.25bn to feed 27,501 boarding students

Students attending boarding secondary schools in Kaduna State will now each be fed at a cost of N300 per day. This follows approval by the Kaduna State Executive Council that the allocation per student is increased from N180 to N300 per day for 27,501 students.

A statement signed by the Jonathan Andrew Nok, Commissioner of Education, Science and Technology, said the decision became necessary following the hike in the price of foodstuff across the country.

"A market survey conducted by the Kaduna State Bureau of Statistics between June and September 2016 revealed that there has been a 30% to 40% increase in the prices of foodstuff," the statement read.

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"This is the second upward review of the feeding allocation this year. In January 2016, the Kaduna state government, in trying to improve the quality of meals given to students in the state boarding schools, had approved N60 per meal as against the N44 per meal that was budgeted in the past.

"This N60 per meal was piloted in six schools, whose feeding was outsourced to private caterers. Following the significant improvement in the quality of the meals, the scheme will now be applied to all the 31 boarding schools owned by the state government.

"This decision means that each student will be fed at N100 per meal, up from the previous N60. The goal is to ensure that students get the adequate nutrition they need to boost their intellectual capability, stimulate healthy growth and ensure they get a well-rounded education”.

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Recall that Kaduna state had since commenced free feeding for primary and junior public secondary schools.