“Healthy learners make better citizens.”
This is the message of Education Secretary Leonor Briones as she acknowledged the major role of the Department of Education (DepEd) in the fight against hunger and in keeping Filipino students healthy.
(DepEd / FILE PHOTO / MANILA BULLETIN)
Briones, in her message during the first anniversary of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Zero Hunger and the launching of the National Food Policy (NFP) document held recently, stressed the importance of healthy students and how eliminating hunger can provide more opportunities for them to become better citizens.
“We cannot teach; we cannot share learning to a hungry child,” Briones said. “A child has to be nutritionally fed to be able to learn, absorb new information, as well as become better citizen,” she added.
Briones noted that in addition to DepEd’s feeding program which is a regular part of school activities, the department also includes food production in the curriculum.
The Department Order No. 023, series of 2020 or the School-based Feeding Program (SBFP) for School Year 2020-2021 provides nutritious food and milk to learners from kindergarten to grade six who fall into the category of wasted and severely wasted. Meanwhile, food production-related subjects like agricultural crop production and fish processing subjects are included in the Senior High School curriculum.
This year, the IATF Zero Hunger 2021 created the NFP and programs in partnership with the Department of Agriculture (DA). These programs provide support to farmers and fisherfolk who are heavily affected by the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Let this be an inspiration to us, work in seeking and combatting this scourge of hunger,” Briones ended.