Parents of children who receive free school meals will be sent vouchers from next week.

From Monday, parents will be sent vouchers equal to 10 free school meals allowances.

The value of the voucher will be £23 for primary children and £29 for secondary school students.

According to a letter sent out by schools, the vouchers will be redeemable at the island’s Shoprite stores and are valid for 14 days.

Ensuring children who receive free school meals do not go hungry has been a target for the government since the schools were closed to all but key worker children last month.

Originally those meals were provided by allowing parents to attend one of the secondary schools which are working as hubs to collect the food.

However Education Minister Dr Alex Allinson admitted that this method was not working.

He previously said: ’ We have found that this is not the best way of providing those meals in certain areas around the island.’

The department asked all head teachers which method they felt was best to provide free school meals for their children and the majority favoured vouchers in the short-term as a pragmatic solution.