The Kaduna State Government has highlighted the impact of its school feeding programme, saying the initiative is improving child nutrition, easing the financial burden on parents and supporting better learning outcomes for students in public boarding schools.

The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Uba Sani on the School Feeding Programme, Dr. Fauziya Buhari-Ado, made the remarks during a medical outreach organised by the Bantex Memorial Foundation in collaboration with the Second Chance Humanitarian Aid Foundation at the weekend in Manchok, Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State.

The outreach provided hundreds of residents with free medical consultations, laboratory tests, diagnosis and treatment for cancer, eye related ailments and hepatitis.

The Bantex Memorial Foundation was established in honour of the late Bala Bantex, a former Deputy Governor of Kaduna State and one-time Commissioner for Health, whose legacy was marked by his commitment to public service, healthcare delivery and community development.

The foundation has sustained annual humanitarian interventions, including free medical outreaches, to preserve his vision of improving access to healthcare for vulnerable communities.

Buhari-Ado described the initiative as complementary to Governor Uba Sani’s commitment to improving the welfare of Kaduna residents through investments in education, healthcare and other social intervention programmes.

She disclosed that five public boarding schools in Kaura Local Government Area are currently benefiting from the Kaduna State School Feeding Programme, noting that the intervention has significantly reduced the financial burden on parents.

According to her, the state government now shoulders the full cost of feeding and approved school charges for students in the benefiting schools.

“I met with the parents and they acknowledged that government has taken away 100 per cent of the feeding cost as well as the school charges. No parent is required to pay even one naira,” she said.

Buhari-Ado said parents had also testified to the positive impact of the programme on the health and wellbeing of their children, adding that many students now enjoy nutritious meals throughout the school term.

She recalled joking with parents that the children had become accustomed to healthy meals in school and urged them to maintain similar feeding standards during the holidays.

“We don’t want the children coming back to school having lost the healthy weight they gained while in school because they are well fed,” she said.

Commending the organisers, Buhari-Ado said the Bantex Memorial Foundation had demonstrated a sustained commitment to improving healthcare delivery in grassroots communities.

She noted that the foundation’s medical outreach, which has been held annually for the past five years, has continued to provide critical healthcare services to vulnerable residents.

The governor’s aide also praised the large turnout at the event, which attracted the chairman of Kaura Local Government Area, traditional rulers, community leaders and residents, describing it as evidence of growing public confidence in community-based interventions.

She expressed optimism that the Kaduna State Government would continue to partner organisations such as the Bantex Memorial Foundation in advancing healthcare, education and other social development programmes across the state.

The Kaduna State School Feeding Programme is one of the flagship social intervention initiatives of the Uba Sani administration aimed at improving nutrition among students in public boarding schools while reducing the financial burden on families. The programme provides balanced meals to students throughout the school term as part of broader efforts to improve enrolment, retention, academic performance and human capital development.

State officials say the programme has continued to expand across public boarding schools, with thousands of students benefiting from government-funded meals and related welfare support designed to ensure that children from vulnerable households have access to quality education without the burden of feeding costs.