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The Free Breakfast Programme is called the Programme Sarapan Percuma or PSP and will be referred to as PSP in later parts of this article.
As soon as we shared this news with parents in the Malaysian Primary School Parents on Facebook group, we had a flurry of questions including
- What time will the children need to be in school for the free breakfast?
- How long will the breakfast be?
- How will they cater to the different dietary restrictions, vegetarian etc?
- Our school has so many students that we have to split the recess into two sessions. How will everyone be able to have the free breakfast at the same time?
- What about afternoon session kids?
- Will they feed our children with nutritious food?
- Who will monitor the food being distributed?
As usual, parents are split on their opinion regarding this. Some welcomed it as it will be good to help the needy. Busy working parents also welcomed it as they don't have to rush to prepare breakfast while there are others who said they prefer to provide their own homemade breakfast at home.
Today, the ministry came up with a FAQ on the Free Breakfast Programme, also called the PSP (Program Sarapan Percuma). You can read the entire FAQ here.
We summarize some of the points that parents have been asking below:
1. What is the Objective of the PSP?
- to provide a balanced and nutritious meal and encourage healthy habit of eating breakfast
2. Who is the PSP for?
- 2.7 million students in all government and government-assisted primary schools
3. What about preschool and secondary school students?
- preschool and secondary school students are not included in the PSP
4. When will the PSP be implemented?
- starting from the academic year 2020
5. How will the Free Breakfast Programme be managed and who will be responsible for providing the food?
- the PSP will be managed in the same way as the existing Supplementary Food Programme (RMT) and the food will be prepared by the school's canteen operator.
6. What time will the students have their breakfast under the PSP?
- 30 minutes between 7.00 am - 8.30 am for morning session and 12.00 pm - 4 pm for afternoon session
7. How much does the breakfast cost for each student?
The Education Ministry is studying the right cost to ensure that all students can enjoy good and quality dishes.
8. How will the Education Ministry determine the menu and guarantee the quality?
- through continuous discussion with the Malaysian Ministry of Health and nutrition experts in a few local universities
- the Ministry of Education is in cooperation with the Ministry of Health, Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-based Industry and nutrition experts in local universities to ensure the quality of breakfast provided.
9. Was there a pilot project conducted for the PSP?
- a pilot project was conducted in a few schools since early August and expected to end in October 2019. The Ministry of Education will take the appropriate approach to implement a better and comprehensive PSP
10. What about the funds allocation for PSP? Is it coming from the sugar tax?
While this is a good initiative to feed the needy as well as to establish and encourage good habit of eating breakfast, we hope that the implementation of it will run smoothly so that there is no wastage and that there will be proper quality assurance on the cleanliness of the meals and that the meal provided will be a good and well balanced one.
Perhaps there should also be some sort of form for parents to complete for those who would like to take up their allocation so that there will be no wastage since there are some who either prefer to make their own food or because of the timing, prefer not to participate in the PSP.
