The New Nation - Internet Edition

Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

Feeding programme for the school-going children is going on in full swing in three poverty-prone upazilas in the district. The aim of the programme is to increase the enrollment of the students, improve their attendance and reduce their dropout rates. To remove the malnutrition problem of the school-going children and make the compulsory primary education a success are also the objectives of the programme.

Directorate of Primary Education and Rangpur-Dinajpur Rural Service (R.D.R.S.), an N.G.O are jointly implementing the programme with the support of the UNO World Food Programme.

The programme has been started on November and it would continue till December 31, 2010, sources said.

A total of 710 government, community, non-registered and NGO- run primary schools under Sundergonj, Shaghatta and Gobindagonj upazilas of the district were brought under this programme. As many as 1,13,573 boys and girls of the schools were fed biscuits in 2006 and 1,28,987 students in 2008. In the current year 1,34,871 students have been enrolled under this programme.

Each child of the school is getting snack of 75 gram of high energy biscuits fortified with vitamins and minerals for each school day of attendance for a whole year, said Rafiqul Islam, project manager of R.D.R.S.

With the introduction of this project here the enrolment rate of the students has increased by 7.5% this year and the attendance rate has also increased 84% from 67% in 2006, he also said.

Besides, different issues like advocacy meeting for the teachers, members of school managing committee and local guardians, feeding doworming tablets to the school student, school vegetable gardening and giving ideas on cleanliness to the students are also being implemented under this programme, sources said.