Ka Ora, Ka Ako: free and healthy school lunch programme

Illustration of an apple

Children and young people have what they need

Status:
Ongoing
Lead agency:
Ministry of Education
Action timeframe:
Prototype implemented from Term 1, 2020

A free and healthy school lunch programme was implemented from Term 1 2020, with a small number of schools. The prototype was intended to test and evaluate different models of delivery and provide information to support decision-making about further provision of free school lunches beyond 2021.

204 schools and kura delivered lunches to more than 42,000 students (exceeding the 21,000 target) by the end of 2020.   Over 300 jobs were created in Bay of Plenty/Waiariki, Hawke’s Bay/Tairāwhiti and Otago/ Southland.

A major expansion of the free and healthy school lunch programme, funded through the COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund, will see around 215,000 students in more than 960 schools get a free lunch every school day by the end of 2021.

The programme targest students in schools with the highest disadvantage and is estimated to create around 2,000 more jobs.

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