The Jakarta administration has rolled out a program to provide extra meals for schoolchildren in order to boost nutrition among children in the capital.

Jakarta Governor Anies Baswedan said the program was introduced over concerns about children who went to school without eating breakfast.

“There were studies last year revealing that more than 30 percent of children don’t have breakfast before school,” he said during a visit to elementary schools in West Jakarta to introduce the program on Friday, as reported by kompas.com.

The program provides meals every morning for free to schools in poor areas in the city based on a 2019 gubernatorial decree on the provision of extra meal at schools. It aims to increase nutritional adequacy among schoolchildren. The regulation increases the types of meal offered to children from two to 29 this year.

“We have prepared a variety of meals taking nutrients, taste and local wisdom into consideration,” Anies added.

During his visit, the governor also showed how the food was cooked directly by students’ parents in the school’s kitchen. The city deliberately involves parent participation to support the meal program and to provide healthy meals for students.

The city administration has allocated Rp 324 billion (US$22.89 million) for the program, will be disbursed for 144,000 students in 459 schools in 53 subdistricts across the capital.

Anies hopes that in the future, the meal program will cover all schools in Jakarta.