Primary school pupils in Kaduna State leave schools after eating free food.

Kaduna State Government, yesterday, expressed concern over the desertion of schools by primary school pupils after taking the free meal offered them. The pupils have developed the habit of leaving school immediately after the free meal under the guise of going to drink water.

The concern was expressed by the state's Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Dr. Shehu Adamu while speaking to newsmen in Kaduna yesterday.

He appealed to parents to ensure that children stay back in school after their free meal, so as not to jeopardize the programme. The commissioner stressed that the programme was introduced in order to encourage school enrolment, attendance and retention.

"The main goal of the school feeding programme is to attract out-of-school children to school and keep them in class for them to acquire education and better their lives. We will not allow a situation where children will just come to school and leave the moment they finish eating their meals; if it is about water, we have asked parents to provide water for their children. Therefore, parents have a responsibility of ensuring that the children do not only come to school on time, but remain in school till closing hours"