Why doesn’t our country have school meals while 108 countries do?
Today is World School Meals Day… In 108 countries worldwide, more than 400 million children have access to school meals. The school meal programme is implemented in countries ranging from Angola to Ethiopia, Sri Lanka to Burkina Faso, Germany to Sweden, Norway, Poland, and Burundi. However, in our country, it is not implemented under the pretext of "austerity" and "budgetary burden."
The limited right to school meals that previously existed was taken away from children one by one under the justification of cost-cutting. Before the general election, the ruling government promised to expand school meals to all levels. However, after the election, it became clear that this promise was nothing but a deception. The most fundamental public right of children was exploited as a tool to deceive and gain votes.
After the election, the school meal programme in preschools was abolished. It was initially announced that it would continue in earthquake-affected regions, but it was later terminated there as well. School meals were also discontinued for students in dual-shift transported education. The reason for all this was cited as austerity.
Those who justified cutting school meals for children under the guise of austerity transferred millions from the public budget, first to private vocational high schools and then to private school owners in earthquake zones under the name of incentives. Between 2014 and 2018, the Ministry of National Education (MEB) budget accounted for 12-13% of the central government budget. If this ratio had been maintained, MEB’s 2025 budget could have been 316 billion TL higher.
With this budget, 15.8 million students in Turkey could have been provided with free and healthy school lunches for two years. However, once again, the choice was not in favour of children but of capital, corporatised religious sects, and private interests. Public funds were once again used not for the right of millions of children to school meals but for the benefit of a handful of capitalists.
Around the world, school meals are not considered a favour, charity, or aid but a public right, a citizenship right, a social policy tool to overcome permanent inequalities, and a public service. Research proves with scientific data that school meals significantly increase academic success and school attendance, positively impact children’s psychological, social, and physical development, and contribute to gender equality.
For example, in Pakistan, between 1998 and 2004, providing 4 litres of oil per month to female students attending school for 20 days led to a 135% increase in girls' school enrolment over six years.
Data from our country clearly shows that increasing poverty and inequality affect children the most and that the right to school meals is an indispensable priority and right. According to PISA 2022 data, Turkey has surpassed countries such as Colombia and Mexico, ranking as the OECD country with the most disadvantaged 15-year-olds.
We rank first in child poverty. At least one in five children spends at least one day a week at school hungry because they cannot afford food. The difference in education expenditures between the wealthiest and the poorest segments has reached 42 times. The Gini coefficient, which indicates growing income inequality, poverty, and disparity, reached its most unequal level in the past 18 years in 2023. With rising poverty, the number of children dropping out of school has peaked in the past three years.
Since its establishment, the Turkey School Meals Coalition has played a crucial role in raising awareness about child poverty and advocating for the right to free school meals and clean drinking water through its campaigns, statements, and the "Free School Meals Now" workshop. The coalition’s presence and efforts are invaluable, especially in times when child poverty is deepening every day. Until the right to school meals is secured, spreading the coalition’s call everywhere is essential for the present and future of our children. Free school meals, now!
