New Government Policy: poor kids ‘won’t learn much, but they’ll eat well’

Mr Clark, a former school teacher, said that many schools had been forced into serving the cheapest available food by a succession of wider budgetary cuts which required them to seek alternative sources of income to maintain educational standards. For the government to make a flagship policy statement which overlooked serious underfunding to concentrate on the nutritional value of school meals was effectively an admission that ‘poor kids won’t learn much, but they’ll eat well’.

"Originally, the price charged for school dinners covered the cost of the food alone, with preparation costs borne by the meal provider, be that school or LEA. Successive governments have altered this system to provide largely illusory cost savings. Had government not meddled in the first place, nutritional values would not be providing a useful distraction from falling educational standards." ENDS

Notes to Editors:
For further information, please contact:
Derek Clark MEP, UKIP Education Spokesman,
Mark Croucher, UKIP Press Office, 0207-222-9365 or 07960-584161