According to Muriëlle van der Voort, board member of Nuovo, which includes fifteen secondary schools in Utrecht and the surrounding area, poverty is increasingly entering the school: “This is evident in the parental contribution, which cannot always be paid, but also in the fact that more and more students arrive at school without breakfast or lunch.” One of the Nuovo schools, Kromme Rijn College in Utrecht, has recently gained experience with a bread room. “Not a room where children can sit at a table. But bread is available. Even if you have forgotten your bread. That way, there is not too much shame involved. You know that you can take a sandwich and walk away again.” The schools hope to have a plan for the schools before the autumn break.
Earlier this week, the Youth Education Fund called on the government to speed up the provision of subsidies to schools for food for their students.