Pupils in one of the disadvantaged schools in South Sudan attending classes/Courtesy photo

The World Food Program has donated 30 million US dollars for feeding programs in government-run primary schools.

The feeding program is targeting more than four hundred thousand pupils across the country.

The UN agency signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Ministry of General Education on Wednesday in Juba.

According to Mary-Ellen McGroarty who is WFP’s Country Director in South Sudan, the program will cover about 100 schools across the country.

“At this moment, the program is for 100 primary schools targeting over 400,000 school children in the different states in the country, the program is costing over 30 million dollars a year,” she said.

Ms. McGroarty  also disclosed plans to expand the program to include more children.

“We are trying to expand the project by getting new resources because it’s important so that we can include as many students as possible in the program,” she added.

For her part, the Minister of General Education, Awut Deng Acuil thanked the UN food agency for the initiative saying support the government’s free education policy in the country.

Acuil added that the support has come at the right time when many areas impacted by floods, droughts, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

“It has come on the right time for us to sign this document, so we will be able to help our children who are going to have difficulties in getting food to go school with an empty stomach,

“This is the right time because we were hit by many crises such as the floods , droughts and COVID-19 and now those who are returning from war in Sudan,

“I think this document we signed today will bring close free education to families,’  she said.

The UN’s food agency started the current form of the School Feeding Program in the then Southern Sudan in 2003.

WFP reports show that school enrollment and attendance rates increased to approximately 70 percent in 2018 following the expansion of the school meals program.