LAHORE: Under the School Education department’s initiative of “School Khana Programme”, the District Education Authority Lahore in collaboration with Allah Wallay Trust (a local charity organization focused on providing free meals to students of primary schools), and Honda Pakistan started the programme at CDG Primary School Bhabara. The initiative has been started under the leadership of Murad Raas, Minister for School Education, Punjab, who was the chief guest at the event.
Building a strong and high-delivery education system was identified as a key goal by the current government in 2018. The goal was to amplify human capital investment in the country. Keeping in line with this agenda, the School Education Department (SED), Punjab has been focusing on holistically improving the system in the country’s biggest province.
One of the key focus areas has been to dedicate attention to the issue of growing malnutrition in our children, especially at the primary school level. Studies have proven that malnutrition has a direct impact on their learning abilities.
In order to combat issues including malnutrition, stunted growth among young students across the province School Education Department started the School Meal Programme also termed as “School Khana Programme” in early 2020. The pace of the programme was impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. So far 20 primary schools in Lahore are being provided with free midday meal every day. This initiative is proving to be very beneficial particularly for the students from less privileged backgrounds, who are facing the challenge of food insecurity.
Since the start of School Khana Programme, the impact on students has also been measured which has shown tremendous improvement in their learning abilities and physical growth. According to data collected from eight schools, the revised BMI of students saw a 77 percent healthy upturn. Even the students that are still “underweight” as per standards have shown improvement from their initial measurements. With betterment in basic health of their students these schools have seen an average increase of 33 per cent in their attendance as well.
Given the positive results the department is aiming to expand the School Khana Programme to the rest of the province over time. Punjab has one of the largest education systems in the world, therefore, sustainable implementation of initiatives like School Khana Programme requires innovative approaches. Given the need and potential impact of this initiative, the political leadership has called on the private sector to come forward and contribute through their CSR components.
Today’s event is an example of how such collaborations can be a source of positive impact for Pakistan. It is a tremendous example of the corporate sector giving back to the community through enabling equal opportunities of learning and growth for children.
Murad Raas said: “Our children are the biggest asset that we have. Ensuring their holistic wellbeing is not only going to give them an opportunity to succeed in life but will also ensure that Pakistan has a bright future. For this it is crucial that every segment of the society contributes to their full capacity. Public-private partnerships have an immense potential to bring practical innovative solutions to problems exist our system faces.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022