Eating In Schools : To Each Child, A Method

It is 11:00 a.m. at the Central Government English Primary school in Yaounde (CGEPS). The ringing of the bell signals break time. Pupils are happy to take a break from learning while enjoying some time to eat and play. Prayer for meal is being heard from the different classrooms. Thereafter, some pupils are seen washing their hands, ready to eat. Pupils, mostly those in Class One, Two and Three, while sitting in their various classrooms, put aside their books and display their lunch boxes. With the supervision of the class teacher, each child eats what the parent has prepared as lunch for the day. Most of the pupils had bread and butter or chocolate as lunch. Few of them had Jallof rice and spaghetti; and some biscuits or cake.  While the pupils are eating, the class teacher kept shouting “eat what you brought from home and no talking during meal”.
The Head Teacher of the Central Government English Primary School in Yaounde (CGEPS) Group One, Daniel Ojong, tells Cameroon Tribune reporters that parents of pupils in junior classes have been advised to prepare a lunch box for their kids. Pupils in Class Four, Five and Six are free to buy from traders at a restaurant near the school. According to Daniel Ojong, vendors around the school present a medical certificate of fitness before selling to pupils or teachers. The situation is similar in most primary schools in Yaounde. At the level of secondary schools, the majority of students depend on what is sold at the school canteen. In this light, various school administrations have taken measures to organise the sale of food items in the school canteen. At the Government Bilingual High ...