Image: Supplied

The Minister for Education has called on school canteen operators as well as parents to ensure students are provided with healthy meals.

The Minister made this comment while officiating at a tree planting event at the Suva Grammar School, in Nasese.

Akbar says planting a tree is no different from farming, as children will benefit from the harvest.

The Minister says they will not deviate from policing students’ meals and health.

“We focus a lot on healthy eating guidelines in our schools but we do found out that sometimes what children bring to school is not very healthy what’s sold in the canteens are not very healthy so we are trying to strengthen our monitoring.”

Akbar says the COVID-19 pandemic has caused a lot of people to pursue farming which contributes to the health of students.

“COVID-19 if one thing it has taught us, it has taught us to be very close to mother nature, the number of Fijians engaged in actually home gardening is very impressive, if you go through social media everybody is trying to flaw what they have produced so not only COVID has allowed us to see our world differently it has also allowed us to think differently.”

More than 200 plants were planted around Suva Grammar School through the initiative and the Minister has called on school heads around the country to involve their students in similar activities.