“There are children (in the occupied territories) who faint in schools from hunger,” stated Cansu N. Nazlı, a member of the “Independence Road” party, attributing the phenomenon to the economic crisis and high cost of living. She appealed for the immediate provision of free meals to all students.
According to the online newspaper “Özgür Gazete Kıbrıs,” Ms. Nazlı said that the problem of child poverty has taken on alarming dimensions and stressed that “although it sounds dystopian, we must face this reality.”
For this reason, she called on the “ministry of education” to cooperate with the “social services agency” and “municipalities” for the immediate implementation of a free meal programme. She underlined that access to healthy nutrition is a fundamental right of the child and an obligation of the authorities.
In parallel, she proposed the abolition of financial incentives for private schools, so that resources can be allocated to support students in “public” schools, as, she stated, “ensuring safe and healthy food for children is the duty of the state.”
