President wants free nutritious meal project extended to all difficult schools

COLOMBO: The programme of providing free nutritious meals to Year One and Two students in selected difficult schools countrywide under the Mahinda Chinthanaya will be further extended to cover all students in selected schools in the Hambantota district.

This follows a progress review meeting of the nutritious meals project at Temple Trees yesterday presided by President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

A Presidential Secretariat press release said it was observed at this meeting that this free nutritious meals project is now being implemented in respect of Year One and Two students of low income families in 7,384 selected schools countrywide.

The President drew his attention to the need to extend this project to cover all difficult schools in the country in the near future.

President Rajapaksa said special attention should also be drawn towards students of Government schools in difficult divisional secretariat divisions named in the 2005 Central Bank report and a programme should be implemented to upgrade their health conditions as well.

A decision was also taken at this meeting to streamline the free nutritious meals project implemented by the Nation Building and Development Ministry under FAO aid with Education Ministry support.

Surveys are now being done by PHIs to ensure that quality nutritious meals are distributed among students. It was decided that Zonal Education Officers should be called upon to co-ordinate and supervise this work.

Education Minister Susil Premajayantha, Deputy Minister Nirmala Kotelawala and other Ministry officials participated.