Call For Education Minister Erica Stanford To Take Over School Lunches Programme

NZEI Te Riu Roa has written to Education Minister Erica Stanford asking that she immediately take over the running of the school lunches programme.

The education union has also called for the programme to revert to using local providers after a series of disasters, culminating in MPI announcing today it would investigate after a principal found plastic melted into lunches.

NZEI Te Riu Roa President Ripeka Lessels says Associate Minister David Seymour has failed to resolve the problems introduced to the programme when he altered it to cut costs and now Minister Stanford needed to step in.

“The images of plastic melted into school lunches served to our children is heartbreaking.

“These children deserve safe and healthy meals, delivered on time, so they can learn,” Lessels says.

Mr Seymour has shown a lack of care for tamariki by failing to resolve ongoing concerns about meals going missing, arriving late, being too hot and too cold, and safety risks with ingredients, Lessels says.

“No one would invite a child into their home and then serve them melted plastic, an ingredient they might be allergic to or food that didn’t fit with their religious beliefs. The Government should treat all children with the respect any caring person would.”

NZEI Te Riu Roa says the quickest way to remedy the litany of issues with the school lunches programme is to revert to the way it was previously run, using local providers.

“Prior to the Government’s funding cuts, local arrangements worked incredibly well. They created jobs within the community, provided nutritious, quality food, as well as multiple learning opportunities for tamariki.”

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