THE free breakfast programme for students will be introduced in 100 selected primary schools nationwide by the end of January, with an extension to all schools in stages after that, said sources.

According to the same sources, the 100 schools – from urban, semi urban and rural areas, and include both national and vernacular schools – were chosen due to their relatively high population of low-income (B40) students.

“This breakfast programme will be started in January,” a source told The Malaysian Insight.

The Education Ministry is expected to make an official announcement before the new school term starts on Thursday.

The speed of the extension of the programme to cover all primary schools in the country – more than 7,000 with 2.7 million students – will depend on available funding and the capabilities of school canteens to provide food, added the source.

The programme is expected to cost the government between RM800 million and RM1.67 billion, said Education Minister Dr Maszlee Malik in October.

A pilot project involving seven schools in four states ran between September and November.

He had said two modules will be used for the programme, which involves two different sets of menus.

The first module requires 30 minutes with a combination of cooked food and fruits on the menu.

The second module requires 10 minutes and involves a combination of diary or healthy beverages and ‘ready to eat’ or ‘on the go’ snacks such as bread, cereals, biscuits, cakes and boiled eggs.

Besides providing nutritious and healthy breakfasts to students, Dr Maszlee said that the programme will also provide the opportunity for teachers and students to bond when having breakfast together.

He had also announced that this programme would be managed in the same manner as Rancangan Makanan Tambahan (RMT), which was prepared by canteen operators.

Breakfast will be before 8.30am for morning session schools, and before 4pm for afternoon sessions. – December 27, 2019.