SCHOOLS providing free breakfast to pupils have 20 menus to choose from, said Director-General of Education Habibah Abdul Rahim.

“The menus, suggested by the Health Ministry, have the nutrients and calories needed by pupils.

“There are about 20 menus, and school canteens can rotate them. For schools that don’t have canteens, we’ve suggested that parent-teacher associations or outside caterers be appointed to provide the meals,” she said at SK Seri Suria in Kuala Lumpur this morning.

The school is among 100 in the country where the programme is rolled out today.

At SK Seri Suria, pupils are given nasi lemak, fruit and water, provided by the canteen.

Habibah said some 4,000 pupils will benefit from the programme.

The schools – a mix of national and vernacular – were selected based on the number of poor pupils enrolled, she said.

A Health Ministry study showed that about 70% of children do not have breakfast before going to school, while World Bank research found a high rate of stunted growth among Malaysian kids.

The free breakfast programme is an improvement on the Education Ministry’s Rancangan Makanan Tambahan introduced in 1979, under which pupils were provided meals during recess.

The programme, mooted by then education minister Maszlee Malik last August, was to be available to 2.7 million pupils in all schools nationwide.

However, The Malaysian Insight earlier this month reported that it had to be scaled down due to financial constraints.

The cost of providing free breakfast for 4,000 pupils has been pegged at RM22 million. – January 20, 2020.