Children drawn to school by tiffin of eggs, milk and bananas: school feeding programme in 138 Baliadangi schools

Photo: Collected

A school feeding programme has been launched at government primary schools in Baliadangi upazila of Thakurgaon, and students, teachers and guardians are voicing hope over it. Little Kashfia packs her books and notebooks in the morning and sets off for school; along with studying in the classroom, she also has the joy of getting nutritious food during the break. The picture is the same for Jannatun and Nur Abdullah. As there is the opportunity to get food at school, children’s interest in coming to school is growing. The discomfort of attending class hungry is easing, so the initiative is also helping them stay attentive to their studies.

Under this programme, 14,680 students of 138 government primary schools in the upazila are getting nutritious food five days a week. The programme is being implemented by the non-government development organisation ESDO. The food list includes eggs, bananas and bread; besides these, students are also getting milk and nutrient-rich biscuits.

Kashfia, a student of the school, said she is very happy to get nutritious food on coming to school and that this has also increased her interest in attending school regularly. Even if no meal is cooked at home for some reason, food is available at school, so the worry of going without food has lessened.

School tiffin is a matter of joy for student Jannatun too. She feels good because she can eat nutritious food on coming to school. Nur Abdullah said the same. In their view, interest in coming to school is growing because food is arranged at school, and as the problem of hunger has eased, it is also easier to concentrate on studies in class.

Guardians too are happy with the children’s experience. They think the government’s initiative is highly commendable. It is not possible for families to give their children foods such as eggs, milk, bananas, bread and biscuits every day. As these foods are available at school, the children are getting the chance to eat nutritious food.

A guardian named Rukaiya said this initiative of the government is extremely noble. Not all families can afford to feed their children nutritious food every day. The children are getting eggs, milk, bananas and other foods on coming to school, which is helping to meet their nutritional needs.

According to another guardian, earlier the children would come to school without eating if cooking was delayed, and the worry felt then is no longer there, because they are getting nutritious food at school itself. At the same time, the fact that their children are getting nutritious food is a relief for guardians.

Nur Alam, upazila project coordinator of ESDO, said the programme is working towards three goals by supplying students with nutritious food regularly: meeting their nutritional needs, increasing school attendance and preventing dropout.

Baliadangi upazila primary education officer Atul Chandra Roy said students’ attentiveness and attendance are increasing as they get one nutritious meal at school during the break. A tendency among children to head for school is being seen even in various adverse situations, including the rainy season. A positive change compared with previous years is also being noticed in the attendance rate at various schools.

Those concerned hope the school feeding programme will play an important role in ensuring children’s nutrition, alongside preventing dropout and increasing regular attendance at school.