PATH lunches back on at Greater Portmore High after funds released

Students at the Greater Portmore High School in St Catherine have resumed receiving lunches under the Programme of Advancement through Health and Education (PATH) programme after a temporary suspension was announced this week. 

“All is well as we speak,” Board Chairman Horace Bennett told The Gleaner when contacted yesterday.

He declined to comment further on the matter.

In a notice to parents earlier this week, the school announced the suspension of the lunch programme for students on the social- welfare programme, citing financial constraints. 

The PATH lunch programme is a gGovernment initiative that provides free or subsidised school lunches to vulnerable students, often ensuring meals at least three days per week. The Government provides $250 daily per PATH student. 

It aims to improve nutrition, attendance, and academic performance for students in need, often including..  

The school, in its notice, urged parents to send students with meals until further notice.

Vice- Principal Delroy Bucknor said the school regretted the decision but would remain focused on maintaining a supportive learning environment. 

The school urged parents to send students with meals until further notice.

However, speaking yesterday during a post-Cabinet press briefing, Terry-Ann Thomas Gayle, acting chief education officer in the Ministry of Education, said schools dido not have the authority to suspend PATH meals. 

“That’s quite unfortunate what happened at Greater Portmore,” she stated. “Our principals are leaders of the institutions.; Tthere are funds that are still within an institution that can be used at all times to ensure that our students are fed. It is the policy of the ministry that no child should come to school and not be fed.”

She revealed that she learnt of the matter via the media, and stated that funds hadve since been deposited in “all accounts of our schools”.

“As leaders within our institutions, we are to make the necessary arrangements to ensure that our students are fed at all times. The ministry is here. I was made aware of it in the media. At no time did I receive a phone call that there was this issue,” she said. 

Calls and messages from The Gleaner to the school principal, Ricardo Ross, remained unanswered up to press time yesterday.

The PATH lunch programme has been criticised over the years for the quality and adequacy of meals provided to students. Critics have also argued that the per-day allocation is not enough to cover a nutritious meal. 

In March last year, Education Minister Dr Dana Morris Dixon announced the expansion of the school- feeding programme, with 256 schools – 189 primary and 56 secondary institutions – earmarked for a special nutrition programme. 

“We’ve seen where a number of our children are coming to school without any breakfast,” the education minister said. “We’ve seen that for those schools that provide lunch and [the children] are on PATH, a cash--h transfer programme for poor families], that is the only meal they may have. So, we’ve had to be very realistic as a ministry, and we’ve looked at that, and we recognise that we have to do better,” she said at the time.

sashana.small@gleanerjm.com