| James Kon |
TWO hundred underprivileged children won’t have to go to school hungry on Tuesdays and Saturdays thanks to a ‘Breakfast for School’ pilot project initiated by the Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah, in partnership with the Ministry of Education’s Department of Schools, with support from Royal Brunei Catering Sdn Bhd, Gardenia Food Industries Sdn Bhd and the Brunei Four-Wheel Drive Association.
The pilot project will involve four schools, Masin Secondary School, Awang Semaun Secondary school, Junjungan Primary School and Lumapas Primary School.
A memorandum of understanding (MOU) was signed between all involved parties, which took place yesterday at the Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah. The signing was witnessed by Haji Brahim bin Haji Ismail, the Managing Director of the foundation; and Haji Aziz bin Haji Nayan, the Senior Special Duties Officer (Corporate) at the Ministry of Education.
In a press conference prior to the signing, Hajah Donnaliza binti Abdullah Puasa, the Assistant Managing Director of the foundation said, “This initiative means a lot to the foundation, the Ministry of Education and the sponsors involved… to help supply a nutritional breakfast to selected students.
“There are families that can’t afford regular meals, so having breakfast would be even harder. We have identified 200 students from four schools who will get breakfast for two days a week. It’s still a pilot project and if it proves successful, we will be looking at expanding it to other schools.’” she said.
Exchange of MoU between Yayasan Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Managing Director Haji Brahim bin Haji Ismail and RBC Acting General Manager Pengiran Haji Abdul Rahman bin Pengiran Haji Mat Salleh. – JAMES KON
“Through the project, it is hoped students will not attend school on an empty stomach. This is because many studies have proven the positive impact breakfast has on a student’s achievement, attendance, behaviour and health,” she explained.
Hajah Donnaliza also pointed out that students are more focused and able to perform well in their studies after having a nutritional breakfast.
The Ministry of Education also has a similar programme, the ‘Miftaahun Najaah Scheme,’ in which underprivileged students receive a daily breakfast from mid-September, until the completion of their PSR exams. Results from the programme showed that the students were able focus on their studies, as well as a reduction of absenteeism.
Meanwhile, Haji Ibrahim bin Haji Awang Damit, the President of the Brunei Four-Wheel Drive Association, revealed that eight assocation members and four 4WD vehicles will be involved in the twice-a-week initiative.
Royal Brunei Catering will prepare the breakfast soup, which is ready for collection by 6am, while Gardenia will prepare fresh rolls or bread, which will be collected by 6pm. The students should be able to have their breakfast by 7am before class start.
Both Pengiran Haji Abdul Rahman bin Pengiran Haji Mat Salleh, the General Manager of RBC; and Wong Kah Ho, the Director of JWPK Holdings, who is a trustee of the Gardenia branch in Brunei, have expressed their pleasure at participating in a good cause.
Pengiran Haji Abdul Rahman said, “We are always ready to help and we will try to contribute. If the project is successful and expands to other schools, we will still be here to support the initiative.”
Meanwhile, Wong Kah Ho said, “The core brand value of Gardenia is nutrition and education. So we are very pleased that the Foundation has invited us to contribute to the programme of Breakfast for School.”
Haji Ali Yusri bin Haji Abdul Ghafor, the Head of the Counselling and Career Guidance Section of the Department of Schools under the Ministry of Education, said, “In 2010, I attended a conference for volunteers in Singapore. I remembered that the actor, Jet Li, said during the conference, ‘Your right hand is for your family and your left hand is for your community.’”
“From those words, I got the inspiration that we, as the subjects of His Majesty Sultan Haji Hassanal Bolkiah Mu’izzaddin Waddaulah ibni Al-Marhum Sultan Haji Omar ‘Ali Saifuddien Sa’adul Khairi Waddien, Sultan and Yang Di-Pertuan of Brunei Darussalam, should contribute to help the underprivileged.”
He also expressed hope that the initiative will be expanded to other schools in all four districts, and that more bakeries would contribute to the initiative.
The ‘Breakfast for School’ pilot project will commence next Tuesday onwards at the four selected schools.
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