Breakfast programme ensures learners are well-fed
Pioneer Foods provides breakfast to learners.
The Gauteng leg of the Pioneer Foods Schools Breakfast Nutrition Programme was officially launched in Tembisa’s Winnie Mandela Primary School last Thursday.
The expansion of this flagship programme now provides more than 34 000 primary school children with nutritious a breakfast each weekday morning across the country.
Speaking during the launch, Pioneer Foods CEO Tertius Carstens said, “As a leading food and beverage company in South Africa, we believe it is our responsibility to focus our social investment in those areas where it has the biggest impact in alleviating the hunger of our country’s children on a sustainable basis.”
As part of the programme, Pioneer Foods provides nutritious cereals such as Weet Bix, Bokomo Corn Flakes, and White Star Instant porridge to the schools, as well as bowls, spoons, long-life milk and aprons for the food handlers.
The schools chosen by Pioneer Foods to participate in this programme are in the lowest quintiles and mostly from the most disadvantaged areas of the country.
“Learners are thereby assured of at least one wholesome meal a day and are able to concentrate on their schoolwork,” continued Carstens.
Delivering the keynote address at the launch, Deputy Minister of Basic Education Dr Regina Mhaule highlighted the importance of strong public-private partnerships such as this one with Pioneer Foods.
“As Nelson Mandela said, education is the engine of development and as such it is pertinent that South African corporates continue to show their faith in the next generation by giving their time, resources, skills and knowledge to help improve the lives of learners through their generous donations. This programme will thus play a critical role in meeting our learner-performance targets in the annual assessment and performance of learners as a whole,’’ Mhaule said.
She continued, “The National School Nutrition Programme exists to advance our learners’ well-being. It is not a stand-alone programme but part of our Care and Support for Teaching and Learning package, a holistic approach which seeks to address all multiple barriers to learning.”
“We have had a consistent problem with our learners not performing well in class because they were starting each day on an empty stomach. I am happy to report that since the Pioneer Foods breakfast programme began there has been a noticeable difference in their performance. Our learners no longer run in the mornings because they are late, but rather to receive a delicious and nutritious breakfast. This allows them to start the school day with adequate energy,” explained Winnie Mandela school principal Sam Simango.
