Associate Minister of Education David Seymour samples the menu as he announces the healthy school lunches programme at the banqueting hall in Parliament, Wellington
Associate Minister of Education David Seymour samples the menu as he announces the healthy school lunches programme at the banqueting hall in Parliament, Wellington
A review of the Ka Ora, Ka Ako school lunch programme praises its impact on Māori students.
The programme provides free, nutritious kai to 235,000 learners in over 1000 schools.
Changes announced in May, effective January 2025, have raised concerns about the programme’s future.
A newly published review of the Government’s lunches in schools scheme, from a kaupapa Māori perspective, is full of praise for the current programme.
Ka Ora, Ka Ako provides free, nutritious kai for the 25% of schools and kura at the lowest end of the socio-economic spectrum.As of June 2024, it catered for 235,000 learners at more than 1000 schools and kura.
However, significant changes to the programme were announced in May, with the Government scaling back its cost and unveiling a new menu, which it said would save more than $130 million a year.
Those changes would come into play from January 2025, but have already led to some schools weighing up whether it would be worth the effort to continue.
The latest report, dated September 1 and titled Nau Mai E Ngā Hua, was commissioned by the Ministry of Education and written by Mana Pounamu Consulting. It is based on the current version of the programme, not the version which will take effect from January.
School principals from within Ngāti Hine say a government plan to get rid of the Ka Ora Ka Ako healthy school lunches programme will directly affect the education of their students
It was commissioned after a claim made by a previous report, which found the programme “performed exceptionally well”, but when it came to Māori secondary students, the programme was “negative” in terms of mental health.
The writers spoke to more than 700 students, teachers, whānau, counsellors, school nurses, and staff from external suppliers of school lunches from 21 schools in Wairaki, Te Tai Poutini, Te Taitokerau, and Tāmaki Makaurau. It found ākonga/students were happier, better learners and engaging with tikanga Māori more often.
Report finds programme is making a difference, particularly for Māori
It noted some schools were using the concept of “breaking bread as a family”, in which kaiako/teachers sat with students during mealtimes to teach about tikanga – for example, through karakia.
“This has benefits in terms of making classrooms or form/house groups more socially cohesive, as well as promoting te ao Māori and tikanga Māori.”
One principal quoted in the report said: “For our students to get an understanding of food types and nutrition, we have also changed the scheduling of eating. We wanted to strive for eating a meal as an act and deliberate activity.”
Teachers reported that reducing hunger reduced aggression and improved behaviour and engagement.
“Three years ago [you didn’t] want to be a teacher in a school if the kids [were] hungry because they can’t concentrate ... the differences [now] are that the concentration has gone up,” one teacher said.
The programme addressed the problem of healthy food being too expensive for families, and had “alleviated stress for many whānau, by reducing grocery bills and the cost of living”.
One whānau member said: “To prepare a healthy lunch takes time, we are hard [working] and [do] long hours [on the farm]. I actually look at this like a bit of ‘tax break’ – it’s a targeted tax break for the parents of kids.”
Public health nurses noted anecdotal improvements in student health, with fewer cases of impetigo (school sores), headaches, malnutrition, constipation and abdominal pain, and some instances of enhanced dental health.
Schools and kura using the internal model – where schools were funded to produce the food themselves rather than getting it from a third party provider – appreciated the opportunity to employ members of the community, often older people, including kuia and kaumātua Māori.
It also grew local businesses, they said. “Most external suppliers to the programme (many of whom were Māori businesses) reported increases in turnover, and therefore the number of staff they can employ.”
The new system would work on a more centralised model, which the Government said made it far more cost-effective.
The report made a number of suggestions, including using feedback loops from students to providers to improve or refine meals, as well as a recommendation that the ministry do further research to explore the long-term impact of providing school lunches on public health.
It recommended encouraging schools to establish protocols and tikanga kai surrounding the meals, and for the ministry to consider investment in producing standardised curriculum content that complements the programme, such as nutrition, sustainability, hygiene, and mātauranga Māori.
