Filenews 6 September 2024 - by Evangelia Sizopoulou
Almost 13,500 students of all educational levels benefited from the free breakfast program during last school year. According to the data obtained by "F" from the Ministry of Education, the students who received free breakfast at their school in the year 2024 – 2025, amounted to 13,463, which are distributed as follows:
- 907 children in Kindergartens.
- 6,008 primary school students.
- 3,404 high school students.
- 430 students of Six Grade Gymnasiums.
- 1,677 high school students.
- 1,037 students of Technical Schools.
It is worth noting that since the beginning of the program a few years ago, it has been found that the number of students who fall into the categories for the provision of breakfast each year is around 13,000.
This program has been included in the co-financed program "TH.AL.E.I.A." (Foundations of Change, Prosperity, Equality and Development), for the 2021-2027 programming period and its purpose is to support socially vulnerable groups facing an increased risk of poverty and social exclusion.
The provision of free breakfast will continue during this school year, with the Ministry of Education informing schools about this, pointing out that its offer to students in need of help must begin gradually from the first day of their presence at school, with the start of classes. Therefore, the school administrations were invited, prior to the first presence of the students in their school unit, to proceed with the following actions: a) Establishment of an Advisory Committee and b) Briefing, under the responsibility of the Chairman of the Advisory Committee, of all involved bodies on the provisions and requirements of the program.
Regarding what will be offered to the beneficiary students, the Ministry informs that a sandwich or pie with halloumi and lountza, of large size, with characteristics such as those listed in the price list of School Canteens of Primary Education, for the school year 2025-2026 will be given. The cost of the kind of breakfast offered by the canteens or other suppliers amounts to €1.65 for both Primary and Secondary General and Secondary Technical and Vocational Education and Training (including VAT). It is noted that the above price of the type of breakfast offered is not the one indicated in the approved price lists, but the price that has been agreed with the Pancyprian Association of School Canteens.
In school units where there is no canteen and at the same time there is no possibility of service from a canteen of a nearby school, breakfast will be offered by another supplier, according to the instructions of the competent Authority.
It is also clarified that in cases where there are special nutritional issues, discreet handling should be carried out by the school administrations, depending on the particularity of each case. In particular, dietary restrictions related to religious beliefs should be respected. Also, for students whose breakfast is required to be varied for medical reasons, a corresponding medical diagnosis must be presented, accompanied by a nutritional recommendation from a clinician/dietician.
In case students move outside the school premises for an educational visit or excursion, the school management should inform the canteen or the supplier from the day before, so that it has the right number of breakfasts ready before the departure of the beneficiary students. Accordingly, if a different schedule is to be followed than the daily schedule, an arrangement must be made in time so that breakfast can be provided to the children who are entitled to it.
The selection criteria for students
With regard to which students have the opportunity to be selected as beneficiaries of free breakfast, they fall into the following categories:
- Families receiving Minimum Guaranteed Income or public assistance.
- Unemployed parents.
- Orphaned children.
- Single-parent families.
- Large families.
- Particularly insufficient income of parents/guardians for other reasons.
Specifically:
For families receiving EES or public aid from the Social Welfare Services, beneficiary pupils must meet one of the following, by presenting the corresponding receipt: Pupils whose parents/guardians are receiving EES in the current year, pupils who are recipients of EES in the current year and pupils whose parents/guardians themselves are receiving public aid from the Social Welfare Services in the current year.
For unemployed parents/guardians, the beneficiary pupils must meet the following condition, by presenting the corresponding proof: Pupils whose at least one of their parents/guardians is a recipient of unemployment benefit from the Ministry of Labour and Social Insurance.
For the category of orphaned children, the beneficiary pupils must meet the following condition, by presenting the corresponding proof: Pupils who are recipients of orphan allowance (from the Social Insurance Services).
For single-parent families, beneficiary students must meet the following requirement, presenting the corresponding proof: Their families must be recipients of the Single-Parent Family Allowance from the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare during the current school year.
For large families, they will have to present the receipt. Pupils from large families (with 4 or more dependent children) who receive child benefit from the Deputy Ministry of Social Welfare during the current school year.
The criterion for particularly insufficient income of parents/guardians for other reasons is mentioned to refer to individual/special cases of children whose parents/guardians have particularly insufficient income who, however, for some reason are not recipients of any of the above-mentioned aids. The documentation must be done by presenting the corresponding, signed supporting documents. Also, this criterion concerns the special cases of students who are either under the care of the Director of Social Welfare Services, or belong to families with serious family problems (there is monitoring by the relevant District Welfare Office), which results in the provision of the necessary supplies for their food.
The application must be accompanied by the necessary supporting documents and delivered to a member of the Advisory Committee who will have been indicated to the students. Please note that for parents/guardians of prospective beneficiaries who do not know the Greek language sufficiently, the application is available in several languages.
