The number of students participating in the EU School Milk Scheme has decreased for the second year in a row by over 7,000 students compared to the previous year.
The number of pupils that participated in the scheme for the 2021/2022 school year was 35,782.
A total of 42,998 participated in the 2020/2021 academic year, while in contrast 55,042 students participated for the 2019/2020 year.
The number of schools that participated for the 2021/2022 school year, including pre-schools, primary and secondary schools, was 1,750.
This was a rise from the previous year, when 533 schools participated.
The 2019/2020 school year showed a steep contrast, with 1.4 million schools participating.
This reduction in figures may be due to the Covid-19 pandemic as schools were closed between January and April 2021.
During this period a home-delivery programme ran, which provided weekly deliveries of food parcels containing portions of fruit, vegetables, milk and cheese directly to homes or to a designated collection point.
NDC supplying milk
The EU School Milk Scheme has operated in Ireland since 1982, with the objective of “promoting and encouraging” the consumption of milk among school children.
Milk is supplied to the schools on a charged basis by their local participating dairy co-operative.
To pay the cost an annual budget of €250 million is allocated and a parental contribution applies. The EU contribution is used to reduce this parental cost.
The scheme is managed through the National Dairy Council (NDC).
The NDC said it is “concerned” that many Irish children are not getting enough calcium in their diets.
NDC set up ‘Moo Crew’ to address the situation and increase awareness of the “importance” of milk in diets. It wanted to show that milk, yogurt and cheese are part of a “balanced diet”.
NDC runs web-based lesson plans on the importance of dairy through this programme
The Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine (DAFM), together with the NDC has began working on a devised model of implementation to halt the decline and increase participation.
The model will focus on “enhanced communication, new accompanying measures and the reduction of the parental contribution”.