The promise of a meal helps keep kids in school

Children receiving a healthy breakfast at school every day

"We receive porridge at school these days, and I haven't missed my classes since. Our mothers come and prepare the porridge which we all eat," says Stephan, 12, flanked by a group of fellow youngsters.

Like Stephan, thousands more children are receiving a healthy breakfast every day, together with an education.

The school-feeding project, which has been possible thanks to the support of the European Union is expected to benefit a total of 43,000 children. Thanks to the project Plan is providing corn-soya blend to children in pre-schools and primary schools in rural areas of Lilongwe, Kasungu and Mzimba in Malawi.

The project is carried out in partnership with parents, teachers and the local communities, by engaging their participation in the preparation of the meals and in the provision of the services essential for the project.

More children now attend school

Research in the area had shown that often, poor families do not have enough food to provide all its members with regular meals. Malnutrition is common and children go to school with empty stomachs. This makes it difficult for them to concentrate on their lessons or participate in activities. 

The main objectives of the project are to provide a healthy snack to children in order to fight malnutrition, to encourage them to attend school and further increase school enrolment.

Plan hopes the project will increase the number of school-aged children attending primary education.

Cecelia Mwale, a volunteer caregiver at Chkhosi pre-school confirms that the project has made a difference and her classes are always full now.

“The children are always here these days. You can imagine, in the past when we only had the programme in preschools, children from primary schools used to gate-crash into pre-schools in order to be assured of a meal,” she said.

Several headteachers in the areas say that attendance figures have suddenly shot up since the school feeding project started.