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As the new school year in Türkiye approaches, the ongoing issue of child poverty coupled with increasing food inflation makes the provision of free meals in schools a significant topic of discussion.
How much would this initiative cost the state?
As an obvious consequence of food inflation, children are malnourished not only at home but also at school and go to classes hungry
The subject of hungry children attending school and the distribution of one free meal in schools has come back into focus, especially with the rising prices post-2023.
Zoom in: On February 6, 2023, the former Minister of National Education, Mahmut Ozer, announced that all schools in Türkiye would begin offering free meals to children in preschool education. However, because of the earthquake disasters, this initiative was limited to certain regions and students in transportation-based education.
School
Age Range
Monthly Average Feeding Cost (TL)
1 Meal Cost (TL)
Preschool
4-6
3,244.13
36.05
Primary & Middle
7-14
4,401.64
48.91
High School
15-19
5,559.16
61.77
Source: Meal costs are calculated based on hunger and poverty lines (as of July 2024) determined by the Confederation of Turkish Trade Unions (TURK-IS) and United Metal Workers Union Class Research Center (BISAM), using data from Ankara and Istanbul.
According to the Ministry of National Education (MEB), the number of students in the 2022-2023 academic year, including private schools, is as follows:
School
Student Number
1 Meal Cost (TL)
Total Annual Meal Cost (TL)
Preschool
2,055,350
36.05
13,706,079,780
Primary School
5,535,531
48.91
50,084,491,937
Middle School
5,186,943
48.91
46,930,530,216
High School
4,780,201
61.77
54,624,083,152
Total
17,558,025
165,345,185,084
The 2024-2025 academic year will begin on September 9, 2024, and end on June 20, 2025. Excluding a 15-day semester break and two one-week holidays, and including official and religious holidays, the total number of school days is 185.
Providing just one meal per day to each student throughout the year would result in a total cost of ₺13.7 billion for preschool, ₺50 billion for primary school, ₺46.9 billion for middle school, and ₺54.6 billion for high school, bringing the overall annual expense to ₺165.3 billion.
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