Chairperson, my response to the hon Nosipho Ntwanambi is as follows: 1(a) According to the information available to the Department of Basic Education, there are no schools that qualified for the National School Nutrition Programme that did not receive funding; and 1(b) no school discontinued feeding due to insufficient funding.
In 2008, the exceedingly high food inflation experienced nationally as well as internationally put severe strain on the programme as the prices of staples rose remarkably. This was alleviated through an adjustment budget allocation from the National Treasury in October 2008.
2(a) Yes, measures were put in place and are in place to feed all deserving schools in 2009; quintiles 1 to 3 in primary schools and quintile 1 in secondary schools, according to the approved minimum norms of the programme.
Ms Ntwanambi would be glad to learn that in the Eastern Cape, for example, as a result of the expansion to Quintile 1 high schools, we are able to feed 72 822 additional learners and we are able to provide support to 182 additional schools.
Finally, all provinces verify the Education Management Information System, EMIS, data each year. In essence, schools that are not satisfied with their quintile status have an opportunity to raise any objections with their respective provincial offices, and if there were any schools in the province that qualified for the National School Nutrition Programme but did not receive the necessary funding, the funds will be allocated to these schools.
2(b) Sufficient funds are allocated to implement the programme in targeted schools as gazetted learner numbers are used to calculate provincial allocations. The resources that are allocated for the nutrition scheme are ring-fenced for that particular purpose. So, they are indeed verified, submitted to the national department and allocations are made accordingly.
2(c) The department is committed to ensuring that learners are fed on all school days, with no interruptions. We may share with you, Chairperson, that last year there were provinces that did this on only three out of the five days. Today we can say, in this year, five of the five days children in our schools are being fed. Officials from the national, provincial and district levels monitor and support the implementation of the programme in schools. Thank you.