School meal programme: Lankans abroad want to contribute, but not through government
View(s):Parliament’s Committee on Ways and Means has instructed the Education Ministry to submit a report on whether there has been an increase in student attendance in primary schools and schools with less than 100 students with the introduction of mid-day meal programme.
Committee Chairman MP Patali Champika Ranawaka instructed the Education Ministry to provide the number of primary grade students and students in schools with less than 100 students who have been given school meals under the mid-day meal programme. Mr Ranawaka also instructed the Ministry to submit a report on the progress of the mid-day meal programme.
When Education Ministry officials came before the Committee this week, it was stated that the meals provided to school children in government schools has increased from 1.1 million to 1.6 million in 2024. The Rs80 allotted for each child has been increased to Rs110.
It was earlier reported that 600,000 school students come to school without breakfast, and after the implementation of this meal programme, the attendance of school children has increased, officials said.
Rs16.6 billion is spent on school meals per year, but there is a shortfall of about Rs4 billion, the Committee was told. The Chair stated that although Lankans abroad are willing to provide assistance for the programe, they are reluctant to provide such assistance directly to the government. The Chair therefore instructed officials to find out whether there is any legal obstacle for providing such assistance to teachers’ unions and school development societies. Furthermore, the Chair instructed to prepare a system for receiving complaints based on social media and stated to use a system such as WhatsApp for regular reporting on the quality of food provided.
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