Governor Bii in ambitious move to supply free milk to schools

Uasin Gishu county government has rolled out an ambitious programme which will see more than 40,000 children in nursery schools get free milk.

The programme, dubbed ‘Uasin Gishu ECDE school Milk’, is to be launched today by Governor Jonathan Bii alias ‘Koti Moja’ and targets children in 673 centres.

Dr Janet Kosgey, the County Executive in charge of Education, said the programme — which is in partnership with Kenya Cooperative Creameries (KCC) — will see each child will get a 200 ml packet twice a week and will cost Sh60 million.

“Going forward, we will integrate the ‘Maziwa ya Koti Moja’ programme in other departments like health and agriculture and we will set up milk village processing plants where the milk will be packaged at the grassroots,” Dr Kosgey told People Daily in an interview yesterday.

Stunted growth

According to Dr Kosgey, research has shown that malnutrition levels was rising at alarming rates in the region with 13 percent of learners suffering from stunted growth and malnutrition.

The programme which will be funded by Governor Bii’s administration has already been approved for implementation by the County Assembly.

“We are only waiting for the procurement and the branding process to be done for the targeted early learners to start receiving free milk at their respective ECDE centres,” said Dr Kosgey. The devolved unit hopes that the initiative will go a long way in ensuring retention in schools besides uplifting the standards of education in the region.

“We are in the process of coming up with a method on how the learners will be receiving the milk. The programme is aimed at providing nutritional value, especially to learners who come from poor backgrounds in far-flung rural areas,” said Dr Kosgey.