The Ministry of
Education (MINEDUC) has revealed that the budget allocated to the school
feeding program has been increasing over the years, reaching 94 billion Rwf.
This was
announced on March 7, 2025, during the celebration of School Meals Day.
Rwanda is
celebrating 10 years of school feeding, which began with secondary school
students and later expanded to primary schools.
The program began
with a budget of 4 billion Rwf, and over the years, the amount has been
increasing, reaching 90 billion Rwf in 2023/2024.
The Minister of
Education, Joseph Nsengimana, said that children faced challenges such as
living far from schools, arriving late for meals, and not being able to attend
school properly.
He said that
since the program began in 2014, students no longer face these obstacles and
that even those who had dropped out of school for this reason have returned.
He said, “When
this program began, we saw many children who had dropped out of school
returning to school, so we are also helping these children to return to school
and learn.”
He added that
this program has also helped ensure that children start school on time, as
parents used to start them late for fear that their children would starve to
death at school, which increases the risk of children dropping out.
A mother named
Umurerwa Gloria said that this program has made it easier for her because
before, she found it difficult to combine chores and follow up with her child
to find something at home at lunchtime, sometimes it is missing.
She said,
“Nowadays, sometimes you go to work and come home with your children, but when
you know that your child has eaten at school, you don’t have to worry, so this
program is good and it has reduced our burden.”
At the national
level, the day was celebrated at the Kigali General Hospital and awards were
given to institutions that performed well in using the budget they were given,
as well as those that put effort into finding solutions such as having fruit
and vegetable gardens and so on.
The institutions
that performed well at the district level were given over 800 thousand Rwf,
while those that performed well at the provincial level were given 2 million
Rwf.
