Basic Education department hard at work to protect learners from foodborne illnesses

The Department of Basic Education is working to prevent the infiltration of industrial and agricultural pesticides into schools as part of a broader multidisciplinary effort to address the recent deaths of school-going children due to foodborne illnesses. 

Speaking at a media briefing on Thursday, Basic Education Minister Siviwe Gwarube emphasised the department’s role in safeguarding learners, particularly as many of the recent fatalities have involved children of school-going age.

“We have done a lot of inspection in terms of the school nutrition programme to figure out whether the school nutrition programme has been compromised. Our findings indicate that the majority of these deaths are not linked to the school nutrition programme,” Gwarube said. 

Gwarube cited an incident two weeks ago, where several children fell ill after consuming food but confirmed it was unrelated to foodborne illnesses or pesticide poisoning.

The Minister highlighted the danger posed by children bringing snacks into schools, which are often shared among learners. 

“These pesticides, which are strictly for industrial and agricultural use, have no place on school premises, including those storing food for the school nutrition programme,” she said.

In response, the department is implementing stricter guidelines to protect food in schools from contamination. These include:

• Strengthening measures to safeguard the school nutrition programme, which feeds 9.7 million learners daily.
• Ensuring food handlers and distributors adhere to strict hygiene protocols.
• Issuing comprehensive guidance to provinces and schools on food storage and handling.

“Our… priority is to make sure that that school nutrition programme, which feeds 9.7 million learners every single day, is protected from being compromised because we want to make sure that those who are food handlers and those who are distributors of the programme, are adhering to very strict guidelines so that we can make sure that we are still able to give and provide meals to learners every single day. 

“We are confident that we’ve provided sufficient guidance to provinces and schools. We are hoping that we can continue insulating the school nutrition programme from any further contamination. And of course, we are working together with other Ministers to make sure that we do our part in terms of what we can at a school level,” said Gwarube. – SAnews.gov.za