Campaigners have welcomed a £12.6 million fund to feed hungry children but questioned why 100,000 kids in Northern Ireland fear going hungry.
Children’s Commissioner Koulla Yiasouma and Graham Gault, from the National Association of Head Teachers, were reacting to news that Education Minister Michelle McIlveen is to fund free school meals for pupils throughout the summer.
The announcement was broadly welcomed, but with some involved in education saying it highlighted the poverty teachers and principals deal with on a daily basis.
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The news also emerged against a backdrop of yet another energy bill increase as Firmus announced a 24% tariff rise.
Annoucing the funding, the Minister said it will run from July 1 to August 31, with families of children entitled to free school meals getting £13.50 per week for each entitled child.
Ms McIlveen added: “School holidays can create significant financial pressure for parents on low incomes and the ongoing cost-of-living crisis is causing further strain on household budgets across Northern Ireland.
“That is why I am allocating £12.6 million funding to provide the families of children entitled to free school meals with additional financial support over the summer holidays.
“At a time when many families are already financially vulnerable, this payment will help to ensure that more than 100,000 of our children and young people can continue to access healthy, nutritious food this summer.
“This is an anxious time for many low-income parents and I hope confirmation of this payment will provide some reassurance to them and alleviate some of the pressure they are experiencing.”
Koulla Yiasouma, Northern Ireland Commissioner for Children and Young People, said the level of poverty needs to be addressed by a functioning Executive.
She added: “Yesterday’s announcement from the Education Minister is very welcome and will make a real difference to many families, giving them peace of mind and removing many of the worries they may have had over how to feed their children over the holiday period.
“However it is very much a sticking plaster and does not address the fact that more than 100,000 children in Northern Ireland are living in poverty, which will be exacerbated by the cost of living crisis.
“Eradicating child poverty is the best way to ensure that all our children have the best possible start in life. This can only be achieved by putting in place an Anti-Poverty Strategy, with a fully funded package of support measures. A functioning NI Executive and Assembly are required to deliver this.
“I therefore once again strongly urge all those involved to redouble their efforts to resolve this current impasse so we can move forward together in addressing the issues that are important to children and young people and their families.”
Graham Gault, the NAHT’s Interim Director NI, said the figures were an “indictment of our politics”.
He added: “School leaders are acutely aware of the extent of this problem. In many cases, classroom assistants, teachers, principals and other school staff have been buying children food and supporting families out of their own pockets.
“This can no longer be accepted as the norm. Schools can no longer be expected to fill the gaps left by the failures of political policy. Instead, our society needs to see a wholescale end to the myriad factors that are crippling so many families.
“These issues spread across the entirety of these children’s lives. The outcomes of poverty cannot be offset by the Department of Education making this summer provision, no matter how welcome it is. These children are crying out for a cross-departmental focus from health, communities, education; indeed, from a fully functioning and child-focused Executive.
“The Minister’s announcement should not, therefore, be viewed as a good news story. Rather, it is an appalling indictment of our politics and our wider social provisions that child poverty has reached such a significant level in this affluent, civilised place. Every single one of the individuals masked in these astonishing numbers is a little child who does not have enough to eat.”
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