Guidelines on the Implementation of School Feeding Programs (SFPs)

December 20, 2013

DEPED ORDER NO. 054-13

GUIDELINES ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF SCHOOL FEEDING PROGRAMS (SFPs)

 

1. In support of the Philippine Plan of Action for Nutrition (PPAN) as approved by the National Nutrition Council Governing Board through NNC-GB Resolution No. 1, s. 2012, the Department of Education (DepEd) has advocated school feeding programs for the past years to improve the nutritional status of the undernourished pupils and students.

2. The DepEd implements the School Feeding Programs (SFPs) to address the undernutrition problem among the learners in order to improve school attendance and to reduce dropout in schools. The SFPs may be school-initiated or sponsored by individuals, non-government organizations (NGOs) and private companies.

3. The recent Updating of the Nutritional Status of Filipino Children and Other Population Groups, shows that 32.0% of 5-10 years old children are underweight and 33.6% of them have stunted growth, and 8.5% were wasted. In the DepEd Nutritional Assessment Report for School Year (SY) 2012-2013, 14.24% or approximately two million school children were wasted or thin. The target beneficiaries for any SFP are the undernourished Kindergarten (below 6 years old) and elementary pupils and secondary students (6-19 years old).

4. This Order is being issued to guide the regional, division, and school officials in implementing school-initiated and/or sponsored feeding programs, thereby ensuring that the objectives of the program are achieved. IcHTAa

5. The interested sponsors of the feeding programs are encouraged to directly coordinate with any of the following offices:

a. Health and Nutrition Center (HNC) for feeding programs covering two or more regions;

b. Regional Health and Nutrition Unit (RHNU) for those programs covering only one region; or

c. Division Health and Nutrition Section for those programs covering a province or city/municipality.

6. All school heads (SHs) shall submit the Program Terminal Report (PTR) to their respective division offices (DOs). The DOs shall submit a consolidated SFPs Report per sponsor to the DepEd CO through the regional offices (ROs).

7. The enclosed PTR shall include the following:

a. Program accomplishments;

b. Nutritional status;

c. Percentage attendance;

d. Issues encountered and actions taken;

e. Good practices or lessons learned;

f. Personnel involved; and

g. Pictorials.

8. The ROs are expected to submit the report on SFPs by March of every school year using the enclosed form.

9. All regional directors (RDs), schools division superintendents (SDSs), and school heads (SHs) are enjoined to extend full administrative support to the management of the program. ACEIac

10. The following documents are enclosed for reference:

Enclosure No. 1 - Guidelines on the Implementation of School Feeding Programs (SFPs);

Enclosure No. 2 - Program Terminal Report; and

Enclosure No. 3 - School Feeding Programs Matrix.

11. Immediate dissemination of and strict compliance with this Order is directed.

(SGD.) BR. ARMIN A. LUISTRO FSCSecretaryDepartment of Education

(Enclosure No. 1 to DepEd Order No. 54, s. 2013)

Department of Education

Background

Recent results of the 2011 Updating of the Nutritional Status of Filipino Children and Other Population Groups, showed that 32.0% of children from 5.08-10 years old are underweight, 33.6% are stunted, 8.5% are wasted, and 4.3% are overweight for their height. In the DepEd Nutritional Assessment report for SY 2012-2013, 14.24% or about 2 million school children are wasted and 2.75% or about 0.4 million school children are overweight.

In many parts of the world, school feeding programs (SFPs) have been used with the belief that education and learning depend on good nutrition. SFPs are considered a sound investment in education as these are associated with increased enrolment, improved school attendance, better performance, decreased incidence of grade level repetition, and decreased dropouts among learners. SFPs also serve as platform for other human development outcomes, such as reducing hunger, aid in the development of children, improve the nutritional status and promote good health. Furthermore, SFPs reduce gender and social inequalities by encouraging families to send their children to school.

In the Philippines, SFPs are being implemented mainly to improve nutritional status, improve school attendance, and to reduce dropouts among school children. SFPs are also one of the thrusts of public-private partnerships as many private companies see the SFPs are effective in providing utmost intervention to school children in need. caADSE

The DepEd's SFP implementation guidelines are resulted from the roundtable discussion conducted in July 2012 with the active participation of government and non-government organizations. The RTD focused on various school feeding programs undertaken by different stakeholders and derived specific criteria that resulted in a set of SFP standards.

Objectives

1. To improve the nutritional status, improve school attendance and to reduce drop out among elementary and secondary students.

2. To increase the number of beneficiaries of the SFPs.

3. To increase the number of stakeholders supporting the SFPs.

Implementing Guidelines

A. Priority target beneficiaries

The target beneficiaries for any school feeding program shall be the undernourished students, especially the severely wasted students in the elementary and secondary schools. Students with severe wasting are prioritized because they are more susceptible to diseases and infections, which when left untreated, may result in dropping out from school. The data should be based on the nutritional status baseline report of the school.

B. Nutritional Assessment of beneficiaries

Height and weight of beneficiaries in targeted schools shall be obtained by the school nurse or the teacher. Baseline data shall be collated at the start of the feeding and every two months, and then end-line data at the end of the program. These data shall be the basis in assessing improvement on the nutritional status of the beneficiaries.

The World Health Organizations-Child Growth Standards (WHO-CGS) shall be used as the basis for the computation of the nutritional status.

A calibrated weighing scale, preferably a beam balance, shall be used to measure the weight and a steel tape to measure the height.

C. Priority target areas and schools

Interested sponsors of feeding programs for two (2) or more schools shall coordinate with the regional or division offices for mapping of feeding programs.

There should only be one (1) feeding program per student per school in order to cover more beneficiaries and avoid overlapping of SFPs.

D. Partnership/Sponsorship

The schools, division and regional offices may encourage partnerships and sponsorships from stakeholders to support the feeding programs following these guidelines:

D.1 Any feeding program sponsored by milk companies should be approved by the Inter-Agency Committee on EO 51 through the Department of Health (DOH). ACTEHI

D.2 Donations from tobacco companies are prohibited as per Republic Act No. 9211 known as Tobacco Regulation Act of 2003 and the Joint Memorandum Circular 2010-01 issued by the Civil Service Commission (CSC) and the Department of Health (DOH) entitled Protection of the Bureaucracy Against Tobacco Industry Interference.

D.3 The sponsors of SFP must meet or exceed DepEd standards for nutritional requirements of the meals and the frequency and duration of the feeding program.

E. Commodities and Food Preparation

School or community gardens must be cultivated and sustained to serve as one of the sources of vegetables and fruits for feeding the underweight school children.

For feeding programs that will serve hot meals, the health personnel shall make sure that the dishes are nutritious, varied, and should provide at least 1/3 of the Recommended Energy and Nutrient Intakes (RENI) for the age group of the beneficiaries. Standardized recipes developed by Food and Nutrition Research Institute (FNRI) and DepEd be used because these meet 1/3 of the RENI for energy, protein and some micronutrients. Only iodized salt should be used for cooking. The use of fortified foods is highly recommended.

In addition, cleanliness during the preparation and serving of food must be observed in accordance with DepEd Orders No. 14, s. 2005, No. 8, s. 2007, and No. 52, s. 2008. The Food Safety Handbook and the Food Safety Manual developed by DepEd may be used as references.

For feeding programs that will serve food products, the health personnel shall ensure that the food products are FDA-approved and are not expired.

Parents should be encouraged and involved because the attainment of their child's nutritional well-being is primarily their responsibility. DepEd must use the SFP in a way to transfer knowledge and skills to the parents who are involved. The parents of the beneficiaries shall help in the preparation, cooking, serving of food and likewise be responsible for the washing of used utensils. HAaScT

F. Feeding Proper

The feeding activity is expected to be done daily for 100-120 days within the school premises and should start not later than September of every school year.

In cases when beneficiaries become overweight/obese, they shall continue to be fed but they will be referred to the PE teacher for involvement in physical activities/exercises and to the School Nurse for health/nutrition counseling.

Beneficiaries who are not gaining weight or continue to be severely undernourished during the first three months shall be referred to the health personnel for further assessment.

G. Monitoring and Evaluation

The program shall be monitored periodically to assess efficiency and effectiveness. The school head is expected to monitor daily the feeding activities and program implementation. The DepEd Regional and Division Offices are expected to monitor compliance to the guidelines, complimentary activities, perform advocacy activities, maintain partnerships, and sustain SFPs. 

H. Submission of Reports

All school heads shall submit a terminal report to include the following: program accomplishments; list of names of beneficiaries, issues encountered and actions taken; good practices or lessons learned; documentation of outstanding scholastic achievements and awards earned by the beneficiaries, and pictorials. The Division Offices shall submit a consolidated school feeding report per sponsor to the DepEd Central Office through the Regional Offices.

Complementary Activities for Effectiveness and Sustainability

1. Deworming

a. Beneficiaries shall be dewormed before the start of the feeding so that the children will get the full benefit of the nutrients of the food. cECTaD

b. The DOH shall provide the deworming medicines to schools through the DepEd regional health and nutrition unit that will be distributed to division offices and to schools.

c. The school nurse/feeding coordinator, teacher-in-charge and barangay health workers shall obtain parental approval before administering the deworming medicines and should be under the supervision of a medical officer.

2. Food Production

 Gulayan sa Paaralan Project (GPP) of DepEd.

a. An area in the school shall be allotted for production of nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables such as legumes, root crops, leafy green and yellow fruits and vegetables for feeding of underweight school children, as well as to provide planting materials for home gardens. In urban areas, schools may adopt an urban gardening technology.

b. The schools may acquire initial planting materials from the local agriculture office.

c. The schools may coordinate with the barangay council to designate an area in the community where parents of beneficiaries can establish a communal vegetable garden to become a primary source of vegetables for supplementary feeding. Initial planting materials may be provided to the households by the local agriculture office or by the barangay council upon request.

d. Retention of good seeds and planting materials shall be encouraged as a regular source of replanting materials for sustainability. STIEHc

e. The families of the beneficiaries shall be taught and encouraged to establish their own home gardens in order to maintain nutritional improvement at home.

3. Waste Segregation and Composting

a. Practice waste segregation and ensure the provision of containers for biodegradable, non-biodegradable and recyclable materials.

b. Practice waste management, application of 5Rs (reduce, reuse, recycle, repair, and rethink), and composting to minimize garbage. Funds generated through the 5Rs shall be used for the SFP. A financial report must be presented to parents and submitted to the Division for consolidation and submission to DepEd.

c. Avoid using styro pore and plastic containers to minimize the accumulation of non-biodegradable trashes/waste materials thereby helping in the conservation of the environment.

4. Good grooming and personal hygiene

 Indicators of good grooming:

• wearing of clean clothes

• keeping hair trimmed and scalp healthy and clean, free from lice

• proper and frequent washing of hands

• proper and regular tooth brushing

• keeping nails short and clean EaHIDC

 Teachers should:

• perform hands inspections before meals/feeding

• explain why good grooming and personal hygiene is important

• discuss the meal for the day and its nutritional values

(Enclosure No. 2 to DepEd Order No. 54, s. 2013)

Program Terminal Report (PTR)

Region: _______________

Division: ______________

District: _______________

School: _______________

A. Program Accomplishment

Beneficiaries	Actual Number of	Number of Feeding	No. of Beneficiaries
	Beneficiaries Fed	Days	Dewormed
Kinder	____________________	_________________	_________________
Grades 1-6	____________________	_________________	_________________
Secondary	____________________	_________________	_________________
TOTAL:	____________________	_________________	_________________

B. Financial Status/Source of Funds (If applicable)

Name of	Amount Received	Disbursed	Liquidated
Sponsors/Stakeholders
_________________	_____________	_________	__________
_________________	_____________	_________	__________
_________________	_____________	_________	__________

C. Nutritional Status

Nutritional Status	Before Feeding	After Feeding
		SW/SU	W/U	N	Ow	O
Severely Wasted/	__________	_______	______	______	_____	______
Underweight
(SW/SU)
Wasted/	__________	_______	______	______	_____	______
Underweight
(W/U)
Normal (N)	__________	_______	______	______	_____	______
Overweight	__________	_______	______	______	_____	______
(OW)
Obese (O)	__________	_______	______	______	_____	______

D. Percentage Attendance

	Month 0	Month 1	Month 2	Month 3	Month 4	Month 5	Month 6	Month 7	Average of
									Months 1-7
%
Attendance
of
Beneficiaries	_______	_______	_______	______	______	_______	_______	_______	__________

E. Issues Encountered and Actions Taken

Region/Division	Name of Schools	Issues Encountered	Actions Taken
___________	_____________	_______________	____________
___________	_____________	_______________	____________
___________	_____________	_______________	____________
___________	_____________	_______________	____________

F. Good Practices and Lessons Learned

Region/Division	Name of Schools	Good Practices
_______________	_________________	_________________________
_______________	_________________	_________________________
_______________	_________________	_________________________

G. Personnel Involved

Region/Division	Name of Schools	Name of Persons/	Role/Nature of
		Organizations Involved	Involvement in SFPs
_____________	________________	___________________	_______________
_____________	________________	___________________	_______________
_____________	________________	___________________	_______________

H. Pictures/Documentations

(Enclosure No. 3 to DepEd Order No. 54, s. 2013)

Report on School Feeding Program (SFPs) in _________ (Region)