Nearly Half a Million Students Miss Lunch
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
About six out of every 100 elementary school students are missing lunch due to the end of free meals during the winter vacation, a lawmaker said Thursday.
Rep. Son Sook-mee of the governing Grand National Party cited a Ministry of Health, Welfare and Family Affairs report showing that 453,631 children received free school meals on school days in the second half of 2008. The number was a 54 percent increase from 294,599 in the first half.
North Jeolla Province had the largest portion of students missing lunch with 11.2 percent, while North Gyeongsang Province and Jeju followed with 10.4 percent and 9.2 percent, respectively.
Son asked for the central government to support these children since local governments claim a lack of sufficient funds for meal supplies during breaks. ``If not, we will see about 159,000 more going hungry in the coming summer vacation,’’ she said.
The lawmaker also called for local governments to look into such children missing dinner at home. ``We need to establish free meal centers in locations where the children mainly live. Low income earners, single senior citizens and others should be taken care of there, too,’’ she said.