Storm in a lunch box: Abu Dhabi government agencies spat over packed lunch schemes

Two organisations are in dispute over which has the right to cater boxed lunches and affordable snacks to pupils in government schools across the country.

The Khalifa Foundation says that children can buy a sandwich for Dh1 and a subsidised 500ml water for 50 fils. Rich-Joseph Facun / The National

ABU DHABI // Two organisations are in dispute over which should provide boxed lunches and affordable snacks to pupils in government schools across the country.

The Ministry of Education and the Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan Foundation launched separate school canteen initiatives to give nutritious and inexpensive meals.

The Khalifa Foundation decided to start the programme in September after it found the daily allowance it gave disadvantaged pupils was not enough for lunch at schools run by the ministry.

But in May, the ministry celebrated the first year of its nutrition programme, involving 54 schools in the Northern Emirates.

It was planning to expand the boxed lunch scheme, which it runs in partnership with suppliers PH7 and Jabal Al Zaytoon, to another 321 schools in the coming year.

“We already give to the needy people in the schools,” said Meera Al Mazrouei, acting executive director of national programmes for the Khalifa Foundation.

“We study their case and if they are eligible we give them the Dh5.

“We found out that Dh5 is not enough to get a full meal from the canteen, so we decided to support the canteens so they can get cheaper meals.”

The foundation teamed up with Al Ain Food, Al Ain Farm, the Emirate Union Corp and a fourth food distribution company in Abu Dhabi to deliver subsidised foods to 40 schools across all emirates, excluding Abu Dhabi, as a one-year pilot.

The scheme offered pupils lunches and snacks ranging from 50 fils for a bottle of water to Dh7 for a complete meal, said Abdulla Al Khazraji, community service manager with the Khalifa Foundation.

“For subsidised items, we have two kinds of sandwiches,” he said. “We have two options, cheese or zatar.

“Each one costs Dh1 and we subsidise the water, which is 500ml for 50 fils, and we have fresh milk for Dh1, which comes from an Al Ain company, and we have labna for 50 fils.”

For Dh3, children could get a lunch consisting of one sandwich, one fresh juice and one water. A Dh5 meal includes a piece of fruit, a sandwich, water, milk and juice.

“It’s a lot to drink but they use it for the whole day,” said Mr Al Khazraji.

For Dh7, children could buy a meal that varied every day, but generally included a sandwich, water, juice, labna and sometimes dates or a slice of pizza, chocolate or a cookie.

The Khalifa Foundation says the programme has been such a success that it plans on expanding it to all girls’ schools, about 250, run by the Abu Dhabi Education Council this autumn.

It also wants to supply half of all schools operated by the ministry starting this September.

But its plans have not yet been approved by the Ministry of Education after it took issue with the foundation’s canteen programme.

Aisha Alsiri, the ministry’s director of nutrition and school health, declined to comment on its objections to the scheme.

Mrs Alsiri referred questions to the undersecretary’s office, which did not respond to calls.

But she told the Arabic-language newspaper Emarat Al Youm that an inspection team from the ministry found "a number of infractions" related to the foundation's schools operations.

She claimed the foundation failed to sign a contract with the ministry, as all suppliers should according to the law, despite official reminders and correspondences.

“In addition to this, samples of the food supplied to schools didn’t meet the ministry’s health requirements and standards,” Mrs Alsiri said.

She also reported that the ministry had received negative feedback from parents, pupils and school staff about the foundation’s school canteen.

Mr Al Khazraji dismissed the allegations.

“I think they are not welcoming the project because they have their own suppliers and we came ahead with our suppliers, so there were conflicts,” he said. “So they want their own suppliers and they don’t want us to get involved in this.

“What they’re saying is we don’t have any expertise to deal with the school projects that belongs to the Ministry of Education.

“But we say we are subsidising the food for the needy people in the school and it’s available for everyone.”