The government has contracted 426 small and medium-sized suppliers for lunch at public schools that have adopted the extended school day, as reported in El Caribe. National Institute of Student Welfare (Instituto Nacional de Bienestar Estudiantil) director Rene Jaquez says that in this school year they have delivered more than 661,000 food servings to these schools, reaching 55% of the public school population.
The Institute has contracted for lunch to be provided to 814,000 public school students. The contracts are worth RD$3.35 billion of RD$8.34 billion food contracts to public schools. The companies provide 600,000 lunch servings at the schools nationwide. In rural schools, 148 companies supply the raw ingredients.
Jaquez says that most of the companies were informal operators that are now working formally and operate with quality standards.
He said that in some cases, companies have almost doubled their numbers of employees. This has also had a trickle-down effect on other suppliers, such as those that assemble the school kitchens, sell propane gas, etc.
He says the government has been paying on time and this has encouraged companies to seek out the government as a client.
Jaquez says that for the next school year they will be distributing school uniforms during the vacation period. 87 companies are authorized to sell uniforms and school supplies to the government. The uniforms are distributed to students at the schools in the most impoverished areas. A budget of RD$513.4 billion is available for this item.
The official says they are prepared for growth.
http://www.elcaribe.com.do/2014/11/24/mas-400-pymes-benefician-tanda-extendida