Manila, July 10 -- The Department of Education (DepEd) in Negros Oriental said it targets to feed a total of 34,465 learners for its school-based feeding program for school year 2025-2026.

During Wednesday's Kapihan sa PIA forum, Melanie Mae Austero, program coordinator, said this school year, the program will cover all kindergarten and non-graded learners not included in the previous years.

Non-graded learners are those enrolled in Special Education (SPED) programs not following the traditional grading system due to various needs.

Grades 1 to 6 learners who are "wasted" and "severely wasted" were the target beneficiaries of the feeding program in the past.

Child wasting refers to a child who is too thin for his or her height and is t...