Kwara State government has begun a week-long medical screening of 4500 food vendors ahead of the official takeoff of its Home Grown School Feeding Programme.
Kwara State Focal Persons for the National Social Investment Programme, Hajia Bashirah AbdulRazaq, said this in Ilorin the state capital.
She said, “We are screening 4500 food vendors across the 16 local government areas for students of primary 1-6. The federal government will take care of primary 1-3 students while the state government will take care of primary 4-6 students,”
AbdulRazaq, who said the exercise was in batches, assured applicants that more food vendors would be invited for the medical screening.
Addressing newsmen on the sideline of the exercise in Ilorin, the Administration Manager, Harmony Advanced Diagnostic Centre Ilorin, Yemi Abegunde, said the exercise was to ascertain the health status of all candidates.
“This exercise, you are aware, the state government wants to start feeding school children so it is screening the food vendors. The government wants to ascertain if they have any ailment that could affect the children (students) that they will be catering for,” Abegunde said.
She said the government would not enlist those discovered not medically fit into the school feeding programme.
A food vendor, Kemi Tejumola, from Omu-Aran Irepodun LG, expressed delight over the seamless screening process which she said was necessary in the interest of pupils and students who would be the major beneficiaries of the school feeding programme.
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