BILANG tugon sa malnutrisyon sa kabataang Filipino, isinusulong ng isang kongresista ang pagbalangkas ng universal free school meals program sa mga pampublikong paaralan.

Sa paghahain ng House Bill 6295 o ang proposed Universal Access to Free School Meals for Children Act, sinabi ni  Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda na ang kanyang panukala ay bahagi ng isinusulong din niyang Comprehesive Education Reform Agenda.

“The 2018 Expanded National Nutrition Survey of the United Nations Children’s Fund shows alarming undernutrition rates among Filipino children. Stunting is declining slowly, but the decline is marginal, from 34 percent in 2003 to 30 percent in 2018. This affects some 3.5 million children under 5 years of age,” pahayag ni Salceda sa kanyang explanatory note.

Binigyang-diin pa ni Salceda na ang pag-aaral na ito ay may kaugnayan din sa performance ng Filipinas sa 2018 Programme for International Student Assessment kung saan pinakamahina ang Filipino students sa reading comprehension at ikalawa sa pinakamababa sa mathematical at scientific literacy.

Iginiit ng kongresista na mahalagang sa murang edad pa lamang ay mapangalagaan na ang intellectual at nutritional development ng kabataan.

“Child hunger is a hidden crisis that will continue to manifest itself in other areas of our public life–education, health and productivity–if we continue to shrug it off as an issue of critical national importance,” sinabi pa ni Salceda.

Alinsunod sa panukala, pangungunahan ng Department of Education ang pagbalangkas ng Universial Free School Meals Program,katuwang ang Department of Agriculture, Department of the Interior and Local Government, Department of Social Welfare and Development, Department of Trade and Industry at iba pang ahensiya ng gobyerno.

Isasalang din sa health examinations ang mga estudyante, kabilang na ang deworming at vaccination activities matapos naman ang orientation sa mga magulang.