Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, September 16) — The school-based feeding program of the Department of Education will push through next school year even under a home-based learning setup, an official said Wednesday.
The targeted beneficiaries will be incoming kindergarten learners as well as Grades 1 to 6 students with nutritional deficiencies last school year, Education Undersecretary Nepomuceno Malaluan told the Senate Committee on Basic Education, Arts and Culture.
Nepomuceno said instead of hot meals, students will be given rations of nutritious food products, which will be either picked up by parents in schools or delivered by local governments to households.
The feeding period is 60 days for nutritious food products, and 50 days for the milk component, Malaluan said.
The ideal feeding period is 120 days “to achieve a significant impact on the nutritional status of children,” but changes had to be made due to adjustments in the academic calendar, Malaluan said.
