Celebration of World School Milk Day

From left: Jeandré Johnston (CEP), Lydia Maotoe (DBE), and Clerkford Buthane (DBE). Hampers sponsored by Woodlands Dairy.

World School Milk Day (WSMD) celebrates milk and other dairy products as part of school feeding programmes across the world. The event is hosted worldwide in September each year, and locally the Consumer Education Project (CEP) of Milk SA, the Milk Producers’ Organisation (MPO), and the Department of Basic Education’s (DBE) National School Nutrition Programme join hands to champion this event. This year, our youth had an opportunity to show us how much they love milk and dairy, with schools across South Africa invited to complete grade-specific worksheets developed by the CEP.

Learners had to submit their completed worksheets to the DBE either via email or on social media pages to qualify for a lucky draw. The worksheets are based on the content of the teachers’ guides and fact sheets developed by the CEP as part of their school programme. All the material is available on www.dairykids.co.za.

School-nominated entries were received from all corners of South Africa. There were entries from Gelukwaarst Farm School in the Free State, Merryvale Special School in the Eastern Cape, Vaal-Orange Primary, the Colesberg Combined School in the Northern Cape, and Walmer West Primary in the Western Cape, to name just a few. Winners were selected from the combined entries in a lucky draw. A total of 63 lucky draw winners each received a dairy hamper.

Celebrating WSMD would not be possible without the continued support of South Africa’s milk producers and processors, who are committed to our youth’s development. Creating awareness of dairy in the diet of school-going children is of great importance, as dairy contributes key nutrients to support healthy growth and development during this life stage. As WSMD showed, dairy as part of school feeding programmes helps to keep children well-nourished while nurturing their minds, and so feeds their curiosity to learn.

If you would like to take part in WSMD 2022, contact info@rediscoverDAIRY.co.za to find out more. Here are some of the marvellous works by the lucky winners of the WSMD 2021 competition.