Food insecurity among children raised in Parliament

Incidents of children fainting during the morning assembly in the Thanthrimale area, an incident of one of the children bringing pieces of coconut kernel to school in Minuwangoda and a report by a doctor about malnutrition among children in the Hambantota district.

Member of Parliament  for Anuradhapura district K.P.S. Kumarasiri told Parliament that he had confirmation that some of the children had fainted during the morning assembly and the government should intervene to resolve the issue.

Reports from the Thantirimale area said that among the schools where children had fainted were Dharmapala Vidyalaya in Thambiya, Ananda Vidyalaya in Kimbulwewa and Siddartha Vidyalaya in Maha Vilachchiya.Health Minister Keheliya Rambukwella responding said he did not have specific information about the incidents in Thantirimale area,  but the incident of a student bringing coconut kernel for a meal and the malnutrition report published by a doctor in Hambantota were not accurate.

He said he had statements from the education officials and the principal from the school in Minuwangoda that no such incident had been reported  while the Hambantota report had been produced on a few interviews.

However, several of the MPs pointed out that the mid-day meal programme was not being implemented properly as the meal allocation was limited to Rs 60 per day.

The issues were raised amidst several local and international reports about food insecurity among the children.