EXCLUSIVE: FG to expand School Feeding Programme to Almajiri, IDP camp students
By Kunle Sanni
The federal government has unveiled plans to extend its Home Grown School Feeding Programme to include Almajiri students and children in Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camps.
Yetunde Adeniji, Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on School Feeding, disclosed this in an exclusive interview with Western Post.
She emphasized the government’s commitment to tackling the rising number of out-of-school children, noting that many of them are either in Almajiri schools or living in IDP camps.
“If you look at the demographics, you’ll see that a significant number of these children are under the Almajiri system, not necessarily classified as out-of-school children,” Adeniji said.
She added that many IDP camps already have makeshift schools, and efforts are underway to integrate them into the feeding programme.
Adeniji also outlined plans to leverage technology for monitoring, payments, and food vendor management to enhance efficiency.
“Our goal is to ensure these children receive a well-rounded education, combining both formal learning and religious studies where applicable,” she stated.
About the School Feeding scheme
The National Home Grown School Feeding (NHGSF) programme was launched in 2016 under former President Muhammadu Buhari. The initiative provides meals to primary school pupils in classes 1, 2, and 3.
The government-led social inclusion scheme, which allocates N70 (approximately $0.046) per meal, aims to reduce the number of out-of-school children while combating poverty and malnutrition. It is regarded as one of the largest school feeding programmes in Africa.
Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of out-of-school children in the world. According to UNESCO and UNICEF, an estimated 18.3 million Nigerian children were out of school as of 2023.
Most of them are concentrated in northern Nigeria, where poverty, insecurity, cultural norms, and inadequate infrastructure limit access to education.
The Almajiri system, which provides Islamic education to millions of children, often lacks formal academic subjects, further contributing to the crisis.
