Milan Jakopovič, head of the charity, said the bill should be rushed through as quickly as possible: “It should be passed by September 1, anything else is procrastination. We’re talking about the children we’ve failed to take care of in the past 25 years.” MPs unanimously passed in first reading a bill that would increase the eligibility rate for free meals at primary schools. The motion was filed by the opposition ZL (United Left) and ZaAB following an initiative by the charity Petka za nasmeh (An A for a Smile).

According to the bill, the eligibility rate would be increased from 18 to 36 percent of the average monthly income per family member. Currently, the cut-off to qualify for the program is 180 euros per family member. Under the bill, an additional 28,000 students would qualify, equating to almost 45,000 children altogether. The charity said that 30,000 primary school students not eligible for free meals live in families making less than 360 euros per family member (per month).

Government parties fail to respond
Jakopovič said that the bill, which has been in the making for a long time, is very reasonable and would provide a long-overdue solution. The charity, which was founded two and a half years ago, decided to start a petition in March. “When you’re faced with problems each day, you can’t just look away. We quickly recognized that the problem is systemic. In the long run, charities can’t tackle systemic problems. We continue to get more and more calls for help, the situation is critical, and we think it’s an outrage that children bear the brunt of the negative consequences,” Jakopovič said. He added that they sent the motion to all government parties, but none of them responded.

Sabina Janičijević; translated by D. V.