Primary Schools To Start Receiving Free Milk, Here’s How It’ll Be Rolled Out

Senators have supported a Bill that seeks to provide free milk to all Pre-Primary and Primary school-going pupils in the country.

According to Basic Education (Amendment) Bill, 2020 sponsored by Nominated Senator Beatrice Kwamboka, the National Government in consultation with County Governments to increase the enrollment of children in schools through the provision of milk.

The Bill also seeks to improve the academic performance of the learners to improve their nutritional well-being.

“School health and nutrition programs, particularly when embedded within broader child development strategies, are an integral part of the long-term development of a child” the bill stated

As part of an inclusive maternal and child health as well as early childhood development according to the bill, school health and nutrition programs are a critical step to ensuring a child can reach their full potential.

According to the stats from the Ministry of Education 2019, there were about 2,738,587 pupils in 46,530 Pre-Primary Centers both public and private countrywide.

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Bungoma, Kakamega, Nakuru, Homabay, and Turkana counties had the highest enrolment of over 100,000 pupils countrywide.

The milk provided to the learners would be distributed to the schools through county directors. However, the education cabinet secretary will recommend the norms for the supply of milk to schools.

While debating the bill in Parliament, senators argued that the nutritional health of students is important in the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) of universal education.

“School health and nutrition interventions have been recognized as critical in addressing the Millennium Development Goals of universal basic education and gender equality in educational access,” the bill stated.

The senators also noted that the WFP reduced the school feeding program by 500 million shillings and reintroducing the milk will help keep children in arid and semi-arid areas in school.

School milk programs will also contribute to the development of the dairy sector by providing markets for dairy farmers.

If the Senators pass the bill, the counties, the Counties Directors of Education will be mandated to supply the milk in their respective counties.

The free school milk program popularly known as “Maziwa ya Nyayo” was introduced by the late President Daniel Moi in the late 1980s until around 1992.

The milk came in a triangular packet and was mostly distributed once or twice a week depending on the school.

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The proposed legislation will be presented to members of the National Assembly for approval, after which it will be taken to President Uhuru Kenyatta for assent.