KOCHI: Skyrocketing prices of vegetables, rice and other ingredients essential for preparing the mid-day meal have put several government and aided schools in a tight spot. Due to the price hike, the funds allocated by the government to schools to buy rations for preparing the meal are proving insufficient, forcing many headmasters to dig into their pockets. Teachers said instead of allocating funds, the government should buy the rice and other items and supply it to schools.
“The system of providing funds is wrong. Schools should be supplied with rice and other items used to prepare mid-day meals, as was done earlier,” said Sreedevi S, a teacher from Kannur. Since prices of various commodities are bound to rise every year, such a move will be good, she said. “This way, headmasters won’t have to worry about finding funds to meet expenses and it can be ensured the students are getting quality food,” she said. Shibu P Chacko, the PTA president of Government Girls’ Higher Secondary School, Ernakulam, said it was high time the ‘`8 per student’ criteria for mid-day meal was changed.
Shibu said headmasters are spending their own money, besides using the funds received from organisations like Rotary Club, to meet the mid-day meal expenses. “For around 100 students, schools have to pay nearly `16,000 for mid-day meal for 24 working days. This means apart from the allocated fund, the school has to spend `2,000 of its own,” he said. V K Ajith Kumar, president, Kerala Pradesh School Teachers’ Association, said they had submitted a representation with the secretary (Education), who sent a proposal to the Finance Department seeking the revision of the allotted fund. “The Finance Department is yet to take any action.
We had submitted a similar petition last year, but no action was taken. We have no hope that things will be different this year. The state government needs to seriously look into the matter as it affects students studying in around 12,000 schools,” he said. Ajith said several schools were yet to get payment for the first 45 working days. “Now, the government has changed the pattern of payment. For the next 155 working days, headmasters will have to submit the bill and voucher at the treasury to get the payment. This has led to a Catch-22 situation for schools,” he said.
‘Row due to change in payment pattern’ The grumbling might be due to the change in payment pattern, said an officer with the Directorate of General Education. “Instead of getting the mid-day meal funds deposited directly in their accounts, the headmasters will have to get the money from the treasury by producing the bill and vouchers,” said.