Free breakfasts, served to 110,000 kindergarten and primary school students from disadvantaged areas last year, slightly more than the target set at 100,000, should concern 200,000 students in 2020 for a budget of 12 million euros. For the one-euro canteen, the target is 40,000 students in 2020.

The State wants to ramp up in 2020 the canteen to one euro and free breakfasts at school, two devices based on volunteering launched in 2019 as part of the prevention and the fight against poverty. The Minister of National Education Jean-Michel Blanquer and the Secretary of State for Solidarity Christelle Dubos on Sunday welcomed in a press release "the good results of the implementation in 2019 of (these) two flagship measures of the National Strategy prevention and fight against poverty, presented by the President of the Republic in September 2018 ".

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"Learn in good conditions"

Free breakfasts, served to 110,000 kindergarten and primary school students from disadvantaged areas last year, a little more than the objective set at 100,000, should concern 200,000 students in 2020 for a budget of 12 million euros, doubled compared to 2019. "It's a real success!", estimated in the columns of the Journal du Dimanche Christelle Dubos. "A child who starts the day on an empty stomach cannot learn in the right conditions," said Jean-Michel Blanquer.

Schools must be located in a REP (priority education network), REP + or political neighborhoods of the city or in certain rural areas. For the one-euro canteen, which will be extended to kindergartens, the annual budget of 5 million euros is renewed. In 2019, this system benefited 8,000 students from poor rural communities, who cannot afford to pay social tariffs.

"Convince and listen to local elected officials"

The one-euro canteen provides funding for part of the meals served if the municipality implements progressive pricing consisting of at least three tranches, the lowest tranche being one euro maximum per meal and per child. "We had to convince and listen to local elected officials and at the end of the year, we saw an acceleration of the establishment of the canteen to one euro," said AFP's entourage of Christelle Dubos. "The objective is that 40,000 students will benefit from it by 2020," said Jean-Michel Blanquer at the JDD .