KUALA LUMPUR: A total of RM289mil has been allocated for the Supplementary Food Programme (RMT) next year for schoolchildren from hardcore poor families.

Deputy Education Minister Teo Nie Ching (pic) said RM250mil will be used to provide RM2.50 worth of food to pupils in the peninsula while RM3 would be for those in Sabah, Sarawak and Labuan for 190 days, which is the minimum number of school days.

She said the remaining RM39mil would be used to supply milk or other food.

“In 2018, 489,117 students in 7,316 schools throughout the country received the RMT. The ministry is always working to improve education and health among students. In connection with this, various aids are being provided, including this programme,” she said during the question-and-answer session at the Senate.

Teo said the school heads and Parent Teacher Associations were responsible for monitoring the school canteens to make sure they provided nutritious food to students, and stressed the contracts of canteen operators who provide unsatisfactory food would be terminated. — Bernama