Free lunches for school kids from 2020

The program will be rolled out in 2020 across 30 schools.

New Zealand Prime Minister, Jacinda Ardern, announced free lunches for school children every day in a bid to curb child poverty and provide better support services.
The program will be rolled out in 2020 across 30 schools around the country and feed around 5,000 students between Year 1 and Year 8. The government aims to feed as many as 21,000 children across 120 schools the following year, Daily Mail reports.
Ardern was on a visit to Kaitao Intermediate School in Rotorua on Thursday when she made the announcement. "Do we want our kids to go hungry? The obvious answer is no. That's why the government is rolling this school lunch program out to the kids who need our support the most," Ardern said.
The lunch program is one of 75 initiatives of the Child and Youth Wellbeing Strategy and was initiated after a large number of children in an interview admitted that an empty stomach was a barrier to their learning. "That was heart-breaking to hear and this prototype starts to ensure children are fed and have the best chance to succeed. You simply can't learn distracted by an empty stomach," Ardern added.
"Reducing child poverty is a key goal of this government and the $5.5 billion families package and initiatives in the wellbeing budget will raise 50,000-74,000 children out of poverty," Ardern said.