Context: Recently, UNICEF Office of Research and the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) has published a new report, titled “COVID-19: Missing More Than a Classroom”.

• According to the Report More than 39 billion school meals missed during COVID-19 pandemic.
• The UN WEP has been supporting governments to adapt their school meals programs during school closures.

Key Findings of the Report

• More than 39 billion in-school meals were missed globally due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic.
• About 24 million schoolchildren are at a risk of dropping out of school due to the pandemic, which would reverse global progress made on school enrollment.
• The coverage of essential nutrition services such as feeding in schools, supplementing micronutrients, promoting nutrition, etc. dropped overall 30% in low- and middle-income countries.

The largest number of beneficiaries (in million) of school-feeding programmes are in:

• India (100)
• Brazil (48)
• China (44)
• South Africa (9)
• Nigeria (9)

Importance of schools

• Schools play an important role in the direct provision of health and nutrition services in the first 8,000 days of a child’s life that are critical for their development.
• The loss of education caused by school closures can impact the health and nutrition of children in the long term.
• Evidence from India and Ghana show that food insecurity during childhood reduced reading and numeracy scores as well as short-term memory.

Suggestion

• Identify and reach out to vulnerable children in the first 8,000 days who are at greatest risk of deteriorating nutrition outcomes due to suspension of school feeding programmes.
• Household assessment and data collection at the household level is a necessary first step to minimizing these effects through interventions with school-aged children.
• Prioritize reopening schools and take all possible measures to reopen safely as school-based targeting and delivery of nutrition are more cost effective and substantial benefits in education and health outcomes.
• Adapt traditional school feeding programmes as take-home rations or cash transfers when schools are closed, so that the children who need it most continue to receive this vital source of support and food.
• Leverage the power of school feeding programmes to encourage children, especially girls and the vulnerable, to return to school post-crisis.
• The school feeding programmes can increase enrolment and attendance.
• Countries can redesign the existing programme with the quality of diets and food-fortification options post COVID-19 crisis.