School meals taken away when they are needed most
An educationist says the government should clarify why it stopped the much-needed project
Most impoverished children come to the primary school at Char Kukri Mukri – an island at the mouth of the Meghna about 120 kilometers from the southern Bangladesh district of Bhola – without having breakfast and many of them even take the lunch given at the school back home.
For them, free food from the school was the reason for coming to classes.
December was the last month the students got the free meals.
"It will not be wise to stop giving biscuits to the kids," says Rahima Khanam, acting head teacher of the government primary school. Taking away the school meals from the students would fuel dropouts amid the pandemic-led income crunch, she says.
Keep updated, follow The Business Standard's Google news channel
Like this case, the country's end to the school feeding programme is set to deter pupils from going back to classes after nearly two years of a pandemic-led school closure across the country. The move comes at a time when neighbouring India and Pakistan are expanding their school feeding programmes to bring back students to classes and minimise learning losses.
"We do not have any plan to resume the school feeding programme," Golam Md Hashibul Alam, secretary of the Primary and Mass Education Ministry, told The Business Standard. He declined to make any comment as to why the programme was not being extended.
After the country's independence in 1971, the feeding programme was launched on a limited scale, and ended in December last year after reaching out to 31.60 lakh kids.
AKM Rezaul Karim, who had been running the project as an assistant project director and is now attached to the education ministry, said it increased school enrolment and checked dropout rates.
Rezaul emphasised continuation of the project was required more than ever amid the pandemic.
Referring to research findings, several international agencies such as the World Food Programme (WFP) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) – two organisations that had been supporting the project in Bangladesh – said the school feeding had positive effects on education-related indicators and in improving the nutrition status of the future generation. The agencies advocated for expanding the outreach of the programme.
A blessing cut short
Rasheda K Chowdhury, a noted educationist and executive director of the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), said the school feeding project was a blessing for children from underprivileged regions such as chars, haors and hill districts.
She told TBS that it is highly regrettable that the government did not extend the mid-day meal project. The free meals in schools were a good way to check dropout, increase enrolment and attendance significantly and, eventually, increase overall literacy. It also contributed to the nutritional development of the children.
"Many parents sent their children to school for the meals. The kids too came to school for biscuits as many of them remained hungry. We think dropout and child labour will increase while enrolment will fall in the post-Covid era if the project ends permanently," she noted.
Dr Manzoor Ahmed, professor emeritus of Brac University, said, "Many families are now facing financial hardship as their income has reduced due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Guardians, especially in char and coastal areas, might send their children out to work instead of to schools."
He told TBS that school feeding could be a key strategy to check child labour.
Professor Dr Siddiqur Rahman, former director of the Institute of Education and Research at Dhaka University, told TBS that the government should clarify why it has stopped the much-needed project.
From milk powder to khichuri: The progressive timeline
After the liberation of Bangladesh in 1971, the government started to give school children milk powder in some impoverished areas. In 1993, the food-for-schooling programme was launched officially, offering young learners rice, pulses and cash.
Vitamin-enriched biscuits replaced these items after 2000.
In 2002, a larger school feeding programme was launched for flood-affected families in Jashore as an emergency response. In 2010, with the assistance of the World Food Programme, the programme was initiated at the national level and continued until 2014.
From 2014 to 2021, the project was extended multiple times.
The primary and mass education ministry spent Tk4,991 crore on the feeding programme from 2010 to 2021. Around 5 crore students have benefited from the school feeding programme since 1990, said ministry sources.
Children used to get cooked meals in 14 upazilas while kids elsewhere used to get vitamin-enriched biscuits weighing 75 grams.
The bump
The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) on 1 June 2021 turned down a Tk17,290 crore project designed to provide "Khichuri" (a dish consisting chiefly of rice and pulses) or other food items as mid-day meals to primary school students.
"The project was not approved as the prime minister was concerned over the implementation. She said cooking meals in schools might hamper the studies of students," Planning Minister MA Mannan told journalists at that time.
Rasheda K Chowdhury said if neighbouring India and other countries can do the same job smoothly, it is not understandable why Bangladesh will face issues over cooking the food on school premises.
She said the explanation of the government about not continuing the project is not acceptable at all.
"We had a school meal policy working for a long time. I do not see any problem implementing school meals in the country," she said.
