Teachers' union leader Mike Charles last night threw his weight behind calls for a Government-funded Island-wide feeding programme for children going without breakfast.

The general secretary of Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT) said he suspected the true number of youngsters missing out on the first meal of the day before school was higher than the eight percent quoted by Government yesterday.

And he said that even if it was only one student going hungry it was the state's responsibility to ensure they were fed.

"There should be breakfasts provided for those who can't afford it by Government," Mr. Charles told The Royal Gazette. "It's difficult to ask Government to do everything but in a case like that it's the only way it can be done. It's not that expensive. You could feed the kids for less than a dollar a day."

He added: "If young children are coming to school hungry it's a problem for that child and it's a problem for the teacher because either they have to find something to give that child to eat or you have one child less who is going to be able to sit down and do work."

A group of women from the Seventh-day Adventist Church who make meals for underfed youngsters called on Government earlier this week to step in and tackle the problem. But health promotion co-ordinator Jennifer Attride-Stirling said on Tuesday that there were no plans for a state feeding programme. She said a 2006 survey showed that 92 percent of five to ten-year-olds ate breakfast each day.

Mr. Charles queried that figure as he said many children would be reluctant to admit their parents were too poor to provide breakfast. He said he was aware of teachers across the Island feeding pupils who weren't getting enough at home.

"They don't chronicle it or anything but they are doing it, especially at the primary level. We still have kids coming from places where they don't have a home, they are sleeping in other places rather than a regular bed, sleeping in cars and tents."

A reader - who asked to be identified only as Megan - e-mailed to express her "shock and dismay" about schoolchildren going without food.

She wrote: "I think what those ladies are doing is great. I think Government owes it to their people to make enquiries to find out

which schools have hungry children and they should develop a programme to assist feeding those children.

"I am absolutely appalled that our Premier has 'no comment' that his people are going hungry; maybe if children could vote he would have a comment. What kind of man can nonchalantly turn a blind eye to children in need?"

She criticised what she described as Social Rehabilitation Minister Dale Butler's "careless dismissal" of the problem. He told this newspaper he believed many children were not eating the food they were given at home or eating packed lunches on the way to school.

"I suppose it makes it easier for him to sleep at night to make an excuse than to actually take time to look into the problem," wrote Megan. "Does the Government even care about its people? If so, we want to see it."

* What do you think? We still want your views on whether Government should be providing free food for children not getting breakfast at home. E-mail comments to sstrangeways@royalgazette.bm.