By Sesi Noah With the current economic situation biting harder, many parents of pupils in primary and secondary schools are facing fresh pr...
By Sesi Noah
With the current economic situation biting harder, many parents of pupils in primary and secondary schools are facing fresh pressure—not just from rising fees, but also from new food policies being enforced by private schools.
These schools are now insisting that children come to school with a strictly balanced diet, including designated “fruit days.” Parents say the move feels like an added burden, especially when many families are struggling to afford even basic meals.
According to Vanguard News gone are the days when a child could take whatever food was available at home. Today, most private schools enforce lunch schedules, requiring pupils to bring specific meals at least twice a week, while any repetition beyond that gets rejected. On top of this, two days are reserved strictly for fruits.
For many households already stretched thin, this policy is almost impossible to maintain.
Mr. George Olorunfemi, a bricklayer, shared his frustrations Sometimes, when we don’t have money to prepare a different meal from the previous day, I just tell my wife to keep the children at home. Yes, eating balanced meals is good, but many of us can barely provide three square meals a day. Now schools want to dictate what type of food our children should eat. Back in our days, we still did well in school without all these rules.
Mrs. Judith Maxwell, a sachet water seller, said the rule almost discouraged her from enrolling her three-year-old daughter in school:
When the first three schools I visited gave me lists of balanced diets and fruit requirements, I broke down in tears. Of course, every parent would love to provide such meals, but can we really afford it in this economy? Even the teachers themselves can’t always afford balanced diets. Children are picky too, so sometimes they just bring the food back untouched.
Mrs. Stella Omorodion, who grinds tomatoes and peppers for a living, said she eventually withdrew her three children from their private school:
I told the teachers I would only give my children what I can afford. I can’t steal to provide fruits and balanced meals every week. With fees, books, and bills already weighing us down, adding this demand is too much. I simply moved them to another school.
Not everyone sees the schools’ policy as unnecessary. Mr. Martins Ogbemudia, an educationist, explained why many schools are adopting it:
Balanced diets play a big role in improving children’s cognitive development, attention span, and overall learning outcomes. Proper nutrition helps them stay alert in class and builds the brain for long-term growth. The challenge, however, is that most families are barely coping with feeding at all, so it becomes a clash between ideals and reality.
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