Govt. preparing to serve mid-day meals at primary schools
The Government is to provide a free mid-day meal for schools with only primary classes shortly, a senior Education Ministry official said. Presidential Advisor on Food Security Suren Batatoda said information on primary schools and the number of children have been called from the Education Ministry to begin the project. According to initial estimates, there are 3,800 schools with only classes from grade one to grade five and there are around 1.1 million students in these schools. Dr. Batagoda said an assessment of the children's health conditions too would be conducted soon.
The Government also planned to seek the help of private donors and restore the foster parent scheme. However, initially, they would obtain funds from the Treasury for the programme. However, they also hoped to get the support of international agencies including the United Nations to support the programme while a National Food Fund too would be set up, Dr. Batagoda said. He said a decision to provide free meals had been launched after reports were received about some students not attending school due to poverty and a lack of food. Dr. Batagoda said tenders would be called to provide the mid-day meals.
Meanwhile, the Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) said although many schools had earlier been added to the list of schools due to receiving mid-day meals, education authorities had failed to address their needs. Some school authorities had also complained that the food distributed was substandard, with suppliers not serving rice, and instead distributing string hoppers and other cheaper food items in small quantities. Moreover, it was learned that the suppliers complained that Rs. 60 paid for a meal was not sufficient to cover the cost.
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