Jakarta – Masaki Yasushi, the Japanese Ambassador to Indonesia, has shown interest in the free nutritious meal program for students proposed by Prabowo Subianto, the elected president for 2024-2029.
Yasushi emphasized the significance of the free nutritious meal initiative and mentioned that the Japanese government plans to invite the Indonesian government to discuss the program in September 2024.
“We will invite the Indonesian government to Japan to discuss what they can learn from our school lunch program,” Yasushi stated, as quoted from Antara on Sunday (June 23).
He explained that Japan has been running a free school lunch program for over a century, which was initiated to enhance children’s nutrition after the war. This program has been beneficial for low-income families in providing nutritious meals.
The Japanese government is keen on assisting Indonesia by sharing their experiences in implementing free school lunches, with a key focus on educating children about food and nutrition.
“Children need to understand the importance of making healthy food choices daily,” Yasushi elaborated.
“This is what we have done to establish schools that offer nutrition education, which could be very beneficial for the people of Indonesia,” he added.
The free nutritious meal program at schools is one of the main initiatives announced by Prabowo and his vice-president, Gibran Rakabuming Raka, set to commence in 2025 and rolled out in stages.
