Poe to DepEd: Tap LGUs, private groups for delivery of food packs to students

MANILA, Philippines — Senator Grace Poe on Saturday advised the Department of Education (DepEd) to seek help from local government units (LGUs) as well as from private groups to help distribute food packs for students.

Poe said LGUs can ask the help of community members, especially those who recently lost their jobs because of the pandemic, in the distribution of food packs.

“As we provide nourishment to our students, we also give livelihood opportunities to our people impacted by the pandemic,” the senator said in a statement.

The DepEd previously said its school-based feeding program (SBFP) was modified from giving hot meals at schools to the delivery of nutritious foods to the children’s households.

The modifications were made because of distance learning now being implemented amid the coronavirus disease.

The Education Department can also seek assistance from the Gawad Kalinga and the Ateneo de Manila University through its Blueplate Learning program to help in the distribution, Poe said.

Poe also noted that “private groups can help fill in the gaps in certain areas that are hard to reach by the DepEd or the barangay.”

The DepEd earlier disclosed that incoming kindergarten learners and Grade 1 to Grade 6 students are “wasted” or “severely wasted” according to the 2019-2020 SBFP records.

/MUF