Windhoek
Paragon Seafood Products has donated 2.5 metric tonnes of canned horse mackerel, valued at N$275 000, to the Ministry of Education, Arts and Culture towards the school feeding progamme.
Receiving the donation on Monday, the Minister of Education, Arts and Culture, Katrina Hanse-Himarwa said in her ministerial declaration of intent, the school feeding programme is high on her list of priorities. She promised that the donated fish would reach the intended beneficiaries and not end up in houses of bureaucrats.
Recently, she initiated what she calls ‘The Friends of Education in Namibia Initiative (FENSI)’, where education partners are invited to pledge towards a Namibian child. “There shouldn’t be a hungry child in our classrooms. There should not be a Namibian child unable to attend school, because there is nothing at home to eat. Paragon Seafood Products has today entered into the books of Namibia as an entity that strives to cater for all Namibians, not just for their profits. I have pledged my full commitment to add nutritional value to the school feeding programme and your contribution today will do just that,” she noted.
Hence, she applauded Paragon Seafood for the good gesture they have shown in complementing government’s efforts to feed school children.
During her regional visit to the Omusati Region, Hanse-Himarwa said she visited a certain rural school and upon her arrival, she noticed a little boy on the verge of collapsing.
Upon inquiry, she was informed that the boy didn’t have anything to eat that morning, since the volunteers who were supposed to prepare the maize meal did not turn up.
“That scenario moved me, and my resolve to concentrate on the school feeding programme was even further solidified,” she said and called on other private institutions, individuals and public institutions to come on board and support education in Namibia.
She said their contribution to education would ultimately create an environment where no Namibian child is left behind.