Free midday meal has an almost ominous ring to it following the death of 23 schoolchildren in the Indian state of Bihar from consuming midday meals contaminated by insecticides last month. There have been other reports of rotten eggs and other unhealthy food being served as midday meals in various parts of India, as well as a few places in Nepal.
But these sporadic incidents should not obscure the tremendous contribution free midday meals can make in luring children from poor households to schools. It is a big incentive for parents struggling to make their ends meet to see their children get nutritious food at no extra cost at school. This is the reason the World Food Program’s free midday meal services that cater to around 210,000 Nepali children across the country has been such a big success, in every sense of the word. The problem is that there are still far too many dirt-poor families who cannot make do without the hard labor of their children. Thankfully, something is finally being done to correct the injustice on these children. [break]
The Village Education Food Store Trust launched in Baglung district under the initiative of some local public schools supports families from economically marginalized communities so that they can afford to send their children to school. Under the initiative, not only will students attending school be provided with nutritious meals, even their parents will get good food. The trust, which has been established by locals of four village development committees, will collect staple food items such as wheat, maize, rice, and potato and provide them to the needy families.
That is not all. Financial help will be provided to dirt-poor families from a pool set up for the same purpose. The schools covered by the initiative are already witnessing a significant rise in student enrolment from poor and marginalized communities.
Such programs need to be replicated throughout the country. But this is not possible through sporadic efforts of INGOs and local communities. There has to be sustained government support to implement this win-win solution that improves the access to education of children from poor and marginalized communities, and contributes to lifting the living standards of the families they come from. A major problem of Nepal’s education system is that more than half the students enrolled at primary school will have dropped out before they reach the secondary level.
This is largely due to the financial constraints of their families. It has become amply clear that any meaningful intervention in increasing children’s access to education has to be coupled with efforts at improving living conditions of their families. One of the ways this might be done is through the introduction of national food stamps, which can be exchanged for nutritious food by poor families that send their children to school. Such a measure might be a little costly. But the price will be worth paying if it means potentially millions of children who are now deprived of their right to education and nutritious food will get a better shot at life, while also securing much-needed food for their cash-strapped families.
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