Schools with at least 30% students from low-income families can sign up for a free school meal starting today: to meet the costs, the Ministry of Education allocates 100 million euros for 300,000 pupils in primary and secondary schools.
Schools can register on schoolmaaltijden.nl until the money runs out and they can decide how to spend it: offer breakfast or lunch or fill a refrigerator of snacks. The government will allocate €9 per student per week and schools will also be able to use that money to hire a catering company if they wish.
They can also choose to support only the poorest families with weekly Red Cross food vouchers worth €11 per child, which can be spent in any supermarket.
In order not to burden teachers too much with the project, school contacts from the Red Cross and the Youth Education Fund will be employed to help schools organize school meals, says NOS.
The program is valid for one year, but Minister Dennis Wiersma he told NOS Radio 1 Journaal this morning that it is “quite possible” for schools that will need them in the coming years to continue providing free meals.