The Education Ministry has said the government's school breakfast program will be conducted only for children in need during the upcoming academic year.
Providing a nutritious breakfast for all students was a campaign pledge of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. As per the pledge, a pilot program was first implemented across 25 schools all over the Maldives during the first term of 2019. The program was expanded to include all public schools in the Maldives during June of the same year. However, the program faced disruption due to the COVID-19 pandemic and has been temporarily ceased.
Education Ministry's Permanent Secretary, Ahmed Ali said several challenges are faced in conducting the breakfast program due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the program will not be conducted for the remainder of this year, which includes the first term of the new academic year beginning in August. However, this does not mean the government is suspending the breakfast program, and the government would continue to provide breakfast to students in need even during this period, he assured.
