MANILA: The Philippines said on Monday it would expand a school soup kitchen programme as soaring food prices have put pressure on millions of parents to cut costs by pulling their children out of class.

Students in an additional 600 school districts will benefit from the 5.3-billion-peso ($127m) “Food-for-School Programme”, which last year helped feed 2.7 million children, Education Secretary Jesli Lapus said.

Under the initiative, students in kindergarten and first grade receive a kilogramme (2.2 pounds) of iron-fortified rice to take home to their families on 120 days of each school year.

“Malnourishment or hunger hinders the child from participating in classroom activities, resulting in a slow learning curve,” Lapus told reporters.

“The results of our school feeding programme are encouraging and if this continues we hope to further reduce the number of students dropping out from school because of poor health and nutrition,” he added. —AFP