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Council introduces new school dinner system
15 Apr 2011

School cashless catering schemes, such as those available from sQuid, could be a great way for educational institutions to prevent children from being bullied for receiving free meals.

However, one local authority has come up with another solution to the problem.

Southwark council is set to spend nearly £8 million on providing every primary school pupil in the area with free, healthy dinners in a bid to reduce stigmatism, the London Evening Standard reports.

Currently, only those whose parents earn less than £16,000 qualify for free lunches.

Despite the intentions of the scheme, London Assembly health chairman James Cleverly has not welcomed the change.

"There are easier ways to prevent the stigmatisation of free school meals than this," he stated.

One of these could be to introduce a school cashless catering system where children swipe electronic cards when they collect their food, meaning they cannot be singled out from those who pay.

Indeed, an Audit Office report recently claimed this could be a solution to bullying in Northern Ireland, the Belfast Telegraph asserted.