FEEDING CHILDREN IS THE PARENTS’ DUTY

Ever tried concentrating on an important task on an empty stomach? It’s next to impossible. Now imagine what it is like for children in our primary and secondary schools, many of whom have to endure long days of classroom study on an empty stomach, waiting for their sole meal of the day when they get home — supper. With such a situation, one would not really blame them for performing poorly in their finals! That is why the news that there is a new government programme which is set to improve on feeding in schools — both quantitatively and qualitatively — is so welcome. In our lead story this week we take you to a couple of schools and show you the struggles schools, students and their parents are undergoing to deal with the problem of underfed children, and the effect it is having on the children’s’ studies. The intense human dilemmas the students face as they are forced to choose between school, food and long distances in-between will give you something to reflect upon. For these schools, parents and students, the government intervention on feeding within schools will be a godsend; and rightly so. However, this should not make parents lax in their responsibility to provide food for their children. From the beginning of time this has been one of the parents’ primary duties — to feed their children — and it remains first and foremost their duty. State intervention should only complement and not replace this.