Questions over food as probe seeks cause of 120 school pupils getting ill

About 120 pupils in the Eastern Cape had to be hospitalised allegedly after eating a meal provided by the government's national schools nutrition programme.

The pupils became ill, complaining of stomach ache and vomiting, allegedly after eating maize meal with sour milk and a pear for lunch at Ikamva Lesizwe Public School at Kenton-on-Sea on Monday.

“It is alleged that these learners started showing signs of [illness] after having a meal served at their school during the lunch break period as part of the school nutrition programme,” said provincial education department spokesperson Mali Mtima.

The provincial health department said an investigation was under way. “Environmental health practitioners have been requested to visit the school to investigate so we can know what might have caused the sickness,” said department spokesperson Yonelwa Dekeda.

Dekeda said all pupils were treated and discharged on Monday.

The provincial education department, explaining the national school nutrition programme on its website, said pupils should receive a “cooked meal consisting of a protein-rich food, a starchy food and a fruit or a vegetable” daily. A one-week cycle menu with specified quantities for food was available for participating schools to ensure variety.

Cassim said the party would conduct an inspection at the school. “It's only then that one can get to the bottom as to what processes are being used in the school feeding scheme nutritional programme,” he said.

“What we know at the moment is that learners became ill after they were eating their lunch — and that shouldn’t happen if they were eating healthy food.”

He said there had been complaints in the past, that because the school nutrition programme was poorly monitored, schools were “not providing good quality [food] as per the funds that have been deposited for schools”.

Departmental officials from the district, provincial office and the department of basic education visited the school to monitor the situation and provide psychosocial services to pupils, teachers and parents.

Mtima said “all officials and parents are still awaiting medical reports on what led to the situation”.

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