Nutrition helps students focus in class and retain the information needed to pass exams; many school lunches focus on young children but this one is for the matrics.
Eastern Cape, South Africa (29 March 2023) – Feeding schemes in schools offer vital nutrition to children and teens. This helps their ability to learn and in the long run, is a benefit to all. For high school seniors, filling lunches will help with the higher workload put in place to get them to the finish line, finals!
Every matric student dreams of finishing school, whether to be done with the confines of the education system or to pursue the next phase in their studies. But to get there, they need all the support they can get!
Privately-funded school lunches for matric learners at Lonwabo High School are helping to bolster nutrition and help these learners with focus and concentration during this important period in their schooling careers.
Taking this one step further, the establishment of an on-site veggie garden that is equipped with a reliable source of water, has also been funded by BTE Renewables’ nearby Golden Valley Wind Energy Facility, to further help the school become more self-sufficient.
“This support fits our vision, as we view education as a tool to positively impact lives in a sustainable manner, leading to real opportunities for overall livelihood improvement and self-reliance. To this end, the cornerstone of our overarching community development strategy is on education and empowering youth, through interventions and impact programmes such as these,” said Libby Hirshon, Sustainability Director at BTE Renewables.
The programme supports the Department of Basic Education’s learner nutrition programme, which aims to enhance the learning capacity of learners through the provision of a healthy meal at schools.
Hirshon added, “We are pleased to be able to support the Department’s objectives by coming on board to provide for this meal for the 48 matric learners which consists of vegetables, a starch and a protein. The project started in April 2022, for the matric class specifically, and supports the school’s initiative of providing extra classes for the matrics resulting in the Grade 12 class having a longer day at school.”
The addition of the veggie garden is intended to not only provide vegetables for both daily meals, but has also offered employment opportunities to local enterprises. The expectation is that, once established, the surplus produce can be sold to families and the surrounding community, to create an additional stream of income for the school.
In partnership with Gift of the Givers, a borehole has been drilled for and water tanks installed to provide the vegetable garden project with a reliable source of water.
“It is important to us to ensure that the water we are providing for the vegetable garden will also be able to assist the school through the provision of a sustainable water supply in future, as the area is known to have water challenges,” concluded Hirshon.
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