Fi We Children Foundation urges PATH lunch subsidy increase amid tighter food prices

The Fi We Children Foundation (FWCF) has appealed to central government to revisit without delay the daily lunch sum paid for each child under the Programme of Advancement Through Health and Education (PATH) and to increase it.

The group says a fixed $250 per PATH pupil per school day buys too little as the cost of groceries climbs. It describes PATH-backed meals as a key plank of national welfare, feeding at-risk boys and girls who get much of their nutrition from what schools serve.

Sabrina Barnes, a FWCF policy committee member, pointed out that food intake shapes attentiveness, classroom behaviour, marks, and wellness. While accepting that officials must also fund school repairs and broader infrastructure, she warned that learners' diets cannot keep trailing behind on the spending agenda.