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LAST UPDATE | 26 mins ago
SOME PRIMARY SCHOOL principals are resigning from their roles and returning to teaching due to the bureaucracy and red tape involved with the hot school meals programme.
The Joint Committee on Education and Youth is meeting today to evaluate the impacts of the hot school meals programme.
In his opening statement, Eoghan O’Byrne, principal of St Mary’s National School in Co Limerick, praised the choice offered for students and added that all preferences are respected and catered for.
He also praised the quality of the food and added that at a cost of €3.20 per meal, it is “strong value when measured against the nutritional, educational and wellbeing benefits”.
However, he said that the “hugely negative” procurement process is putting too much pressure on schools.
“The workload, pressure and administrative burden placed on schools has been excessive and, frankly, unfair,” said O’Byrne.
He added that primary schools “should not be expected to navigate complex procurement systems independently” and called for vendors to be pre-approved by the Department of Education.
O’Byrnealso called for “far greater practical support must be provided to school leaders and administrators”.
He said schools are expected to be a “jack of all trades” and that schools are expected to evaluate vendors on a range of issues, from environmental credentials to financial viability and nutritional quality.
“We don’t have the expertise as educators, the process is totally bureaucratic and full of red tape.”
He added that schools are expected to evaluate three tenders and to provide feedback to all three.
“They should be pre-approved and that onus and burden should be taken off schools,” said O’Byrne.
“There is a huge onus on primary school principals and people actually resign their post and go back into teaching.”
He added that with continued investment, better administrative support, and year-round thinking, the hot school meals programme has the potential to be “one of the most impactful educational interventions”.
The principal of Tallaght Community National School, Conor McCarthy, also criticised the “bureaucracy” involved with the hot school meals programme.
“The procurement and application process can be further simplified,” said McCarthy.
He told the committee that “EU procurement law” is being applied to schools and that this is a “fundamental mistake”.
“In an era when the EU is seeking to become less bureaucratic and more efficient I think it would be wise to make a move to stop asking individual schools to do the same kind of time consuming procurement as we demand from big organisations like the HSE.”
McCarthy also said the programme causes “hidden costs” for schools, for which funding should be provided.
“There should be additional funding given to schools for the cost of electricity, cleaning, waste and pest control,” said McCarthy
He also said that funding should also be provided for schools to directly employ someone to prepare and serve food in medium sized and large schools.
Despite this, McCarthy said the programme “has to be seen as a positive step forward” and that for some students, it is their first introduction to fruit and vegetables.
McCarthy added that recent media coverage “regarding food quality and standards has led to welcome changes in menus”.
Speaking at the Committee last week, Darina Allen, founder of Ballymaloe Cookery School in Co Cork, blasted the Hot School Meals programme and said that “ultra processed food” is causing “harm” to children.
McCarthy also called for the programme to be extended to Deis post-primary schools and added: “My takeaway is simple: the Hot School Meals programme is feeding hungry children.”
Meanwhile, Maria O’Sullivan, Associate Professor in Nutrition at Trinity College, was invited to address the committee on the “public health nutrition and educational aspects” of the programme.
She noted that one in five children in Ireland live with food poverty and that the hot school meals programme is associated with lower intakes of sugar and higher intakes of fruit and vegetables.
She also said that the programme is associated with a lower intake of ultra processed food and that the greatest impact is for children from the lowest-income households.
However, she said there are “logistical challenges” to successfully offering children a healthy, nutritiously balanced meal.
She pointed to limited flexibility, access to kitchens, dining spaces, food waste, packaging, food presentation and sustainability.
However, she said that despite the challenges, school meals “demonstrate a positive impact on the nutritional intake of children and young people”.
She added that the programme supports “school attendance, learning, educational attainment, and social interactions”.
-With additional reporting from Diarmuid Pepper
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