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🇪🇸 Spain /Culture & Society

1.2 Million Schoolchildren Lack Meal Grants, Including Half of Vulnerable Students

From La Vanguardia · () Spanish

Translated from Spanish and summarized by DistantNews. Read the original for the full story.

At a glance

News Named sources Context piece
  • More than half of vulnerable students in Spain, or 1.2 million children, will begin the new school year without a school meal grant, according to the NGO Educo.
  • Educo says 54.7% of students at risk of poverty or exclusion lack access to meal assistance, while families receiving partial grants may still struggle to pay the remaining cost.
  • The organization is calling for universal, free school meals, saying the policy would cost 0.37% of gross domestic product and help address child poverty.

More than half of Spain’s students at risk of poverty or social exclusion do not receive help paying for school meals, according to a report by the education and children’s rights NGO Educo.

The organization says 1.2 million vulnerable children will start the new school year without a meal grant. Its report, “Back to School, Back to the Cafeteria?”, examines access to school dining services as classes resume in most Spanish regions.

Universal and free school meals

· EducoThe organization’s central policy demand in its report on access to school dining services.

Educo estimates that more than 2.2 million children and adolescents attending school are at risk of poverty or exclusion, but meal grants and other assistance reach only 981,000 students. Most vulnerable children without grants are in secondary school. For families at risk of poverty, paying for school meals represents at least 7.6% of their annual income.

Key

· Pilar OrenesEduco’s director general described school meals as key to fighting child poverty.

Educo is calling for universal, free school meals as part of the right to education and as a tool against child poverty. Its director general, Pilar Orenes, said the measure would cost 0.37% of GDP. The organization also wants grants to cover the full cost, noting that many currently cover only 40% to 80% of the price.

“Many families cannot pay the difference, and their sons and daughters stay for lunch only on some days,” Orenes said. She added that the midday service provides more than food, also offering education, care, protection and lessons in living together.

Many families cannot pay the difference, and their sons and daughters stay for lunch only on some days, putting that complete and nutritious meal a day at risk. The midday space does not only feed them, it also educates, cares, protects and teaches them to live together.

· Pilar OrenesOrenes explained why partial meal grants may not ensure regular access to school meals.
About this summary

Originally published by La Vanguardia in Spanish. Translated, summarized, and contextualized automatically by DistantNews, with a note on how the source frames the story. Not individually reviewed before publishing. How this works.

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