Education Minister Paul Givan has defended a decision to dish up a 19% hike on the cost of school meals in Northern Ireland’s schools.
It essentially means parents having to fork out an extra £10 a month if they wish their primary or pre-school age child with a school meal daily, five days a week.
The increase – which took effect from January 1 – had been announced in November as part of savings measures detailed by the Education Authority.
It will see a 50p rise on the price of a set school meal for children attending primary and special schools, with an increase from £2.60 to £3.10. Pre-school meals will also go up from £2.50 to £3.
And pupils attending secondary level education will face a 19% hike too on their canteen choices when they reach the till.
Those children availing of free school meals will not be impacted.
But for those who do pay, the Minister has pointed parents to the possibility of preparing a healthy packed lunch themselves – and online guidance on how they might do so.
Mr Givan has also moved to defend the rise which he indicates is the first in eight years.
He did so in response to a written question from Newry and Armagh MLA Justin McNulty.
The SDLP representative had asked the Minister for his assessment of how “children in poverty will be impacted” by the price increase of school meals.
Said the Minister: “Children and young people in receipt of free school meals will be unaffected by the Education Authority decision to raise its school meal prices.
“All low-income families are encouraged to apply for free school meals through the Education Authority and it provides guidance and support to facilitate all such families making an application.
“For families not entitled to free school meals, I recognise that a rise in school meal prices will not be welcomed.
“However, despite its costs of production having increased substantially in recent years, the EA has not raised its prices since 2017/18. Unfortunately, the current budgetary position has meant that the EA is no longer able to sustain prices at 2017/18 levels.”
For that reason, Minister Givan suggests: “A family not entitled to free school meals retains the choice of whether to purchase a school meal or to make their own arrangements, such as providing a packed lunch.
“To support parents in this, the Public Health Agency publication ‘Are you packing a healthy lunch?’ provides advice and guidance to parents to ensure their child is able to access an affordable, healthy and nutritionally balanced packed lunch.
“Consequently, if a family decides not to pay for a school meal, the availability of this guidance on preparing a healthy packed lunch means that all parents should be able to ensure that children are able to access an affordable, healthy lunch, either through the canteen or a packed lunch.”
