âââ KATLEHO MORAPELA 06:06 Thu, 08 Jul 2021 Image: NY Times The Free State Education Department has called on principals to ensure the roll-out of the school nutrition programme during the winter break. The department's Howard Ndaba says all qualifying learners must continue receiving meals during the Covid-19 pandemic. Children on the programme are set to receive food on school days, despite schools only reopening on 19 July 2021. The National School Nutrition Programme (NSNP) has in the past made national headlines with education lobby groups dragging the department to court to ensure that it continues providing learners with meals during the hard lockdown in 2020. Many, including Equal Education, argued that millions of children depend on the feeding scheme as their only source of food.