Almost one quarter of all post-primary pupils who are eligible for free school meals (FSM) do not avail of them, new figures reveal.
There are slightly more than 22,000 secondary school pupils entitled to FSM. Only 16,715 take advantage of them, however, with the rest choosing to instead pay for lunches.
The FSM scheme is designed to help ease the financial burden on low-income families.
The meals are provided to children whose parents receive benefits or whose family income is less than £16,190 a year.
Northern Ireland education minister John O’Dowd is frustrated that too many people are not accessing the support to which they are entitled.
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