Africa-Press – Angola. The School Lunch Program, which benefits more than 3,500 children, has been contributing to a better performance in learning and the reduction of school dropout, in the municipality of Curoca, Cunene province.
The director of the Curoca Municipal Education Department, located 333 kilometers from Ondjiva, capital of Cunene province, told that school lunches cover vulnerable children in regular primary education, selected according to their social status.
Evaristo Taciano highlighted that the implementation of the Lunch Program in 24 primary schools in the municipality is helping considerably to combat absenteeism, especially in those localities affected by the drought.
The official said that Curoca constantly suffers from the phenomenon of drought, which leads many students to give up classes to look for food. In this regard, in the last academic year, there was a decrease in the statistics related to the dropout of children.
He added that of the 31 schools operating in Curoca, at least 24 benefited from school lunches, especially in the packs and villages further away from the communal centers, which is helping to keep children from dropping out of classes.
Evaristo Taciano recalled that, in previous years, due to the interruption of the School Lunch Program, students in the municipality often dropped out.
He explained that school lunches, created within the scope of the Local Integrated Program to Combat Poverty at the level of the Municipal Administration of Curoca, aims to improve the performance of school-age children and provide adequate nutritional conditions for their integral development.
“We are asking the government authorities, in the sense of an increase in this Program to Combat Poverty, to be able to cover all the schools that will work this academic year”, he said.
New students in town
For the academic year 2022/2023, the Education sector in Curoca enrolled a total of 6,400 students from initiation to the second cycle, against 4,799 enrolled in the previous period.
Of the total number of students enrolled, at least 2,745 enter the normal education system for the first time, revealed the director of the Curoca Municipal Education Department.
Evaristo Taciano reported that the increase in enrolled students is due to the construction of more classrooms and the rehabilitation and expansion of the Oncôcua Student Home.
The official pointed out that the Education sector controls 31 schools of permanent construction and others of a temporary nature, the latter made with local material, and improvised in churches, chapels and other spaces.
Evaristo Taciano considered that the dispersion of the population, due to the drought, also created major constraints in the teaching process during the last academic year.
“Many people moved to the Calueque reception center, looking for better conditions, and we mobilized teachers and volunteers to teach classes to the children installed in the center”, he clarified.
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