Mid-day meal programme is fruitful: Minister Sharma

Minister for Communication and Information Technology Rekha Sharma has expressed the belief that the Mid-day Meal Programme would be fruitful for the robust health of the children. Speaking at a programme organised by China Foundation for Rural Development, Nepal at the Shanti Shikshya Secondary School in local Thahity today, she said strong health is a necessary condition for quality education.

।”One cannot acquire good education with feeble health. Programmes like this one would be result-oriented for building better health of the children,” Minister Sharma said, calling for expanding the Community Day-meal Programme countrywide. The contribution made by the Chinese government in the plan of expanding the programme has significantly helped in achieving the goal set by the Government of Nepal, she added. The government had launched the mid-day meal programme at the community schools from Karnali province.

It had been operating the programme since the last three years targeting the children studying from pre-primary to class three. From this fiscal year the programme has been expanded to cover children up to class six. The students are given mid-day meal at the rate of Rs 15 per student per day. Stating that China has made big contribution in the development of information-technology in Nepal, the Minister for Communication and Information Technology expressed her confidence that China will also extend cooperation in the programme of enhancing the access and quality of the information technology.

According to her, China has been assisting Nepal in any difficult circumstances. Ambassador of China to Nepal, Chen Song maintained that China has provided support to Nepal during the COVID-19 pandemic and various disasters. Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) spokesman Nabin Manandhar said the organisation has been distributing school bags, sanitary kits and warm clothes to students of various community schools in the metropolis.

KMC education department chief Ram Prasad Subedi shared on the occasion that KMC from this year has started the programme of providing day meal to students up to class eight, by adding Rs 10 per student on the amount provided by the government for this purpose. The Foundation has been providing assistance to the Day Meal Programme at various community schools since one year to address the problem of hunger facing the children of primary level from poor families in developing countries.

The organisation has been supporting Nepal in the education, health, water supply, nutrition, skill and community development sectors. The Mid-day Meal Programme is implemented in 10 community schools in KMC with the support of the Foundation. More than 10 thousand students are studying in these schools. The students of these schools have been getting nutritious day meal as well as 150 milliliters milk under the programme.