There is overwhelming evidence that school feeding can help increasing students’ class attendance, reducing dropout rates and improving learning outcomes, mainly among the poorest children. We strongly believe that school feeding is one of the key reasons for Wakadogo’s success. Before the COVID-19 pandemic onset, several developing countries were in the process to expand school-meal programs, although from a low base of investment. Governments in different African countries, where approximately 25% of children were covered by these programs, adopted ambitious plans focused on expanding access to food for both the brain and the body. Unfortunately, many of these plans are currently shelved, since unsustainable debts, slower economic growth and reduced revenues have shrunk governments’ fiscal space and weakened the support provided to children in desperate times.
Figure 1. Tweet about Wakadogo by the First Lady and Minister of Education & Sports of Uganda
This is the reason why Frontline Foundation has been playing such an important role in expanding the school feeding program to make it more nutritional and enjoyable for students. In addition, we believe this is the reason why Wakadogo students achieved the largest number of awards ever; it ranks the 14th position out of 67 schools in Gulu City. It was a tremendous achievement if one takes into consideration the large number of school classes students have missed due to the 2-year school closure imposed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The wonderful job done by Wakadogo School has granted it the inaugural World’s Best School Prize for Overcoming Adversity. The $50,000 prize will be used to establish a computer literacy program for Wakadogo students, staff and community. BBC Africa has even covered this story and the First Lady and Minister of Education & Sports of Uganda tweeted about it.
