The 42m School Fruit Pilot Programme, financed by the New Opportunities Fund (NOF), is providing fruit to children in nursery classes in schools - but not to four-year-olds in local education authority nurseries.
Outraged nursery heads have urged MPs to put pressure on the Department of Health and the NOF to remove a clause from the conditions of the NOF funding which state that 'LEA nurseries are ineligible to participate'.
Jane Cole, support headteacher to the Forum for Maintained Nursery Schools, said, 'At first I thought this was just an administrative blunder, but after putting pressure on the Department of Health for weeks now, I have hit a brick wall. I have been given no explanation for this discrimination and I am absolutely furious.'
A NOF spokeswoman said that because the scheme is a pilot 'we have to set parameters', and added, 'While it is unfortunate that maintained nurseries miss out at this stage, the pilots will be evaluated and it may be that in the future, nurseries will be able to join the scheme.' Nearly 250,000 London schoolchildren are getting free fruit and the scheme is due to be rolled out nationally in 2004.
Jenny Bruce, head of the Maytree Nursery School in a socially-deprived area of Lambeth, said she had been told by the head of a nearby primary school that older children were being offered the fruit since the school had been allocated too much. 'We do provide fruit for our children in the home corner, but that is funded by the nursery and our parents,' she said.
Ms Bruce said her nursery had been sent application forms for the scheme, completed them and appointed someone to co-ordinate the distribution of the fruit. 'When it didn't come I phoned to find out what had happened and was told we were not entitled to it.'
Sharon Long, who runs a pre-school in Havering, was told by the London fruit scheme that her existing setting was ineligible, but another setting being established in a primary school would be supplied with fruit. She said, 'I would like to know what's happened to their equal opportunities policy. The children are being discriminated against.'
Pat Logan, head of the Bayonne nursery school in Hammersmith and Fulham, said, 'I would like to know according to what criteria nursery schools are ineligible for this fruit. If nursery classes in primary schools are getting it then it should be given to children in LEA nurseries.'