The number of schools and schoolchildren participating in the National School Milk Programme in the 2013-2014 school year has increased significantly, the Ministry of Rural Development's Deputy State Secretary for Agricultural Economy announced at the Óbuda Elementary School in Budapest today.

Zsolt Feldman said that while 340 thousand students from 1880 schools took part in the Programme last year, 535 thousand pupils from a total of 2030 schools are participating in this school year.

The School Milk Programme was launched after Hungary became a member of the European Union and is aimed at promoting healthy eating among school children and to make sure that they eat as much fruit and vegetables as possible. A budget of HUF 2.8bn is available to finance the Programme this year, compared to HUF 1.65bn last year. The Programme is funded to an equal proportion by the Ministry of Rural Development and the European Union.

MATÉSZ-FRUCT, and the winner of the communication tender published by the Ministry of Rural Development, the largest supplier of the School Milk Programme, has launched a national drawing competition for children attending the first 6 years of elementary school, and the winning drawings will be features on school fruit juice packages.

In addition to increasing the consumption of fruit juice among schoolchildren, the aim of the competition is also to provide a uniform image for fruit juices distributed to children during the upcoming 2014-2015 school year. Information and entry forms for the competition will be sent to all participating schools and children. The deadline for submitting drawings is 5 march.

(MTI)