The government has decided to further extend the school lunch programme which is already being implemented in the country, Cabinet Spokesman Mass Media Minister Dr. Bandula Gunawardena said.
Speaking at the weekly Cabinet media briefing yesterday at the Government Information Department, Minister Gunawardena said that the government annually implements the school lunch programme aiming at 1.08 million students in 7,926 schools spending Rs. 4 billion.
Under the policy of eradicating poverty, the government expects to immediately implement programmes aimed at addressing concerns raised over nutrition. Accordingly, the Cabinet of Ministers granted approval to the proposal submitted by President Ranil Wickremesinghe for taking appropriate steps to provide a wholesome lunch to another one million school students, further extending the school lunch programme which is already being implemented based on district-level data on poverty and nutrition.
With the extension of the programme more than 51 percent of the country’s students will be benefited from this programme.
UNICEF, World bank, the Chinese Government and various other institutions provide their assistance for this programme.
Add new comment