Skip to main content

DepEd school-based feeding program ‘well-managed’—study

The Department of Education’s (DepEd) School-Based Feeding Program (SBFP) is a “well-managed” program according to a study recently released by state think-tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS).  However, study authors of the study have also identified vital areas that require improvement. Authors Dr. Jose Ramon G. Albert, Ana Maria L. Tabunda and Imelda Angeles-Agdeppa, PIDS senior research fellow, chief research fellow at Pulse Asia, and scientist at the Department of Science and Technology, respectively, recommend that the government address important implementation challenges, which include increasing the budget per child and for administrative and monitoring purposes.

The program’s short history has seen moderate success to develop the learning capabilities of malnourished young children by improving their health and nutrition.  The initial results of the study were discussed by a panel of DepED officers and PIDS researchers at a seminar held at PIDS recently.

Most of the discussions revolved around the finer details of the SBFP such as the budget and time constraints on the program, which the authors included in their observations.   

Beyond implementation and budget increase recommendations, the attendees agreed that the SBFP would benefit greatly from strengthening the links of interagency cooperation. Efforts of local government units and other stakeholders should converge to complement SBFP with community-based activities.

According to the World Food Programme, food for education (FFE) programs like SBFP in the Philippines is adopted across developing countries “as a mechanism to accelerate the achievements of some of the Millennium Development Goals, particularly those on hunger and poverty (MDG 1), education (MDG 2), and gender equality (MDG 3)”.

Although considered a temporary fix to address large social problems, the SBFP works on the premise that there exists a strong correlation between health, nutrition, and school performance. Tracing its roots to the 1997 FFE blueprint to address short-term hunger, the SBFP goal has evolved “to rehabilitate severely wasted children to normal nutrition status and improve their classroom attendance”.

Albert and his co-researchers reviewed the conduct of the SBFP in eight schools across the country during school year 2013-2014. They analyzed the results against the program’s objectives: (1) that 70 percent of the beneficiaries must have been rehabilitated at the end of the 100-120 day feeding program, (2) that 85-100 percent of the beneficiaries attend school, and (3) that there is observable improvement in health, nutrition values, and behavior.

The researchers interviewed the team of school parents, teachers, parent volunteers, and DepED staff who together handle the procurement of supplies and finances, and conduct deworming and other complementary programs that enhance the results, which include waste management, in-house gardening, and health monitoring. They were interviewed about the program’s procedures, issues, challenges and lessons, the performance of the children, and how they perceived the implementation and management of the SBFP.

The researchers found out that beneficiaries and stakeholders laud the program.

The hands-on attitude of the DepED provincial division staff made it easy for the schools to implement the SBFP, especially where it concerned financial and procurement procedures. The division staff also made it clear to the beneficiary parents that it is important to ensure proper nutrition in their own households to sustain their children’s nutritional progress.

As a result, the health, class attendance and performance, and social behavior of the students improved. The program, the researchers noted, also helped cultivate “a culture of care and active participation among all stakeholders”.

Amid all the success, however, the researchers point out important challenges, starting with data gathering inconsistences and the lack of standard weighing measurement.

“Clearly, any encoding and measurement errors on the nutrition status data have implications on the targeting accuracy of the program as well as on correct assessment as to whether stated goals are attained (or not),” according to the study.

This threatens to misclassify the nutrition status of children, which may cause fundamental problems for the program.  Classification not only determines the effectivity of the program, but is also crucial to building the database of identified malnourished children.

Furthermore, issues with procurement and liquidation procedures resulted in delays and sometimes discontinuation of the program. Difficulty and unfamiliarity with bureaucratic processes hindered the program to meet its objectives.

Lastly, the researchers recommend that the budget of 16 pesos per beneficiary for food be reviewed and augmented.

These findings concur with experts’ views that while the SBFP can help meet MDG targets, it is not enough to end hunger, especially not for those who are already in the most vulnerable bracket and are experiencing chronic poverty.   Policymaking must be complementary and comprehensive.

Several bills have already been filed to institutionalize the school feeding program. Senator Sonny Angara’s Senate Bill No. 2020 and Senator Grace Poe’s Senate Bill No. 79 generally try to address the budgeting challenges.


But as the study shows, focusing on improving the logistics of how the SBFP is implemented and carried out is just as crucial to meeting the program’s objectives and improving the nutrition and education of the country’s most vulnerable young children. (PIDS)

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Empanada festival: A celebration of good taste and good life

By Dominic B. dela Cruz & Leilanie G. Adriano Staff reporters BATAC CITY—If there is one thing Batac is truly proud of, it would be its famous empanada-making business that has nurtured its people over the years. Embracing a century-old culture and culinary tradition, Batac’s empanada claims to be the best and tastiest in the country with its distinctive Ilokano taste courtesy of its local ingredients: fresh grated papaya, mongo, chopped longganisa, and egg. The crispy orange wrapper and is made of rice flour that is deep-fried. The celebration of this city’s famous traditional fast food attracting locals and tourists elsewhere comes with the City Charter Day of Batac every 23 rd  of June. Every year, the City Government of Batac led by Mayor Jeffrey Jubal Nalupta commemorate the city’s charter day celebration to further promote its famous One-Town, One Product, the Batac empanada. Empanada City The Batac empanada festival has already become an annua

PIDS expert says income tax cuts justified; warns gov’t of revenue loss

Proposals to amend the personal income tax schedule appear to be well-justified. However, these proposals should include measures that will allow government to recover the revenue loss from lower income taxes. Dr. Rosario Manasan, senior research fellow of state think-tank Philippine Institute for Development Studies (PIDS), said at a seminar sponsored by the Philippine Senate, that government should look for new revenue measures to compensate for the projected revenue loss that will arise as a result of the implementation of any of the various proposals to restructure the personal income tax. Currently, there are several income tax reform proposals pending in both houses of Congress. All of them, according to Dr. Manasan, have the same objective of addressing the phenomenon of bracket creep, which results from “non-indexation to inflation of personal income tax brackets”. Simply put, bracket creep occurs when employees’ income increases over time as a result of inflation. Th

PGIN honors Ilocano heroes of past, present through Heroes Walk

SPO1 Allan Lampitoc Franco of Banna, Ilocos Norte and PO2 Jovalyn D. Lozano of Adams, Ilocos Norte receive a resolution of commendation, a certificate of college scholarship grant to their family members and a P20,000 cash incentive each from the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte represented by Governor Imee R. Marcos and Vice Governor Angelo M. Barba in recognition of their bravery and heroic acts in the Mamasapano clash in Maguindanao on January 25. Mr. Franco and Mr. Lozano were recognized on March 10 in time for the unveiling of the second batch of Ilocano heroes at the Heroes Walk located along the Sirib Mile in Laoag City.  (Lei Adriano) By Jennifer T. Pambid PGIN-CMO In honor of the heroes who brought freedom, fame and glory to the province as well as to the country in the past century, the Provincial Government of Ilocos Norte (PGIN) through the Education Department and Sirib Youth Office launched the second batch of Ilocano Heroes Walk on March 10, 2015.