National Healthy Start Eating Program well underway

The National Healthy Start eating program by the Ministry of Education, Culture, science, and technology (MOECST) is well underway. The initiative behind the project is to ensure that students in vulnerable and rural communities have an opportunity to get a healthy meal while at school. Chief Education officer, Yolanda Gongora told Love news that the timeline for the implementation of the regulation is anticipated within three years. 

Yolanda Gongora, Chief Education Officer, MOECST: “We have not officially launched it, but however, we began with the piloting of schools in the school year 2023-2024. For the school year 2023-2024 we have 35 schools. So we began with a pilot, then we ran it across the schools that were prepared to provide a feeding program, meaning that they had the space, they had the kitchen, they had the supplies and we helped them with some of the supplies. So for the new school year 2024- 2025 we are looking at adding another 75 schools. But as mentioned earlier we have not officially launched it for us to go through the whole process of where we are with the National Healthy Start feeding program. Some schools don’t have the space, they don’t have the infrastructure, so we have to look at other avenues that can support us in providing needs to schools.”