Contractors hired by Kaduna State Government to feed primary school pupils on Thursday complained on the increasing number of pupils in most primary schools in the state.
The State Governor, Dr Nasiru El-Rufa’i, had on Jan. 18 flagged-off the School Feeding Programme to provide free breakfast to pupils across the state.
Although the programme had taken off successfully, the pupils were daily increasing in most of the schools, thus complicating the feeding process.
Fielding questions from the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the programme, some of the contractors said they were overwhelmed by the turnout of the pupils since the inception of the exercise.
They said the number of the pupils kept increasing as against the official figure given to them by the state government.
Hajiya Maryam Idris, hired to feed 1,235 pupils every Monday in Bomo Primary school, Sabon-Gari Local Government Area, said the number of students in the school was far higher than the official figure.
“I was contracted to feed 1,235 pupils but the food cannot go round. After sharing the food, about 55 were left behind.
“This creates a problem, but after collaborating with the teachers, we discover the problem.
“We found that some parents do send enrolled children with their siblings just to get their share of the meals.”
At Meyeye One Primary School, Makarfi Local Government Area, a teacher, Hamisu Abubakar, who commended the government for initiating the programme, said the school had 1,322 pupils.
He said the number, however, went up as those who abandoned their classes had return following the introduction of the scheme.
Mudi Mudi, another teacher at Meyere two Primary school, said the school had 680 pupils, adding that those who left the school had returned to jack up the number.
He also said that the pupils were now punctual as they reported to their classes in time following the inception of the exercise.
At Muciya, Chikaji and Jushi primary schools in Zaria Local Government Area, there was, however, a hitch as the contractors did not provide food on the third day of the programme.
The contractors told NAN that money for the exercise for that day was not released to them. (NAN)
