Male: The government has decided to halt schools’ breakfast programme introduced by the present administration as a precautionary measure against COVID-19.

Providing a healthy breakfast for school children was a presidential pledge of President Ibrahim Mohamed Solih. The Education Ministry commenced the breakfast programme in 25 schools as a pilot project during first term of 2019 academic year. After that, the programme was rolled out to 188 schools, and on July 11 last year the programme was extended to 203 schools. A total of 57,816 students are part of the programme.

The meals were provided by contracting out the service for private parties. However, on Monday night the Education Minister announced that the programme has been halted amidst COVID-19 pandemic.

It has been more than three months since the schools were closed due to the detection of COVID-19 cases in the Maldives. Schools in islands unaffected by COVID-19 are set to reopen on July 1.

In a news brief held by the National Emergency Operations Centre (NEOC) on Monday, Education Minister Dr Aishath Ali urged parents to provide a proper meal to students at home and urged all students to bring their own water bottles to school instead of using the school's water coolers.

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