CHENNAI: A detailed study by the State Planning Commission has revealed that the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme has multiple benefits beyond increasing the attendance of school children, said panel deputy chairman J Jeyaranjan.
Addressing a press conference after submitting 11 study reports of the State Planning Commission (SPC) to Chief Minister MK Stalin at the secretariat on Tuesday, Jeyaranjan said normally the attendance of students would range between 60-70%. However, after the implementation of the breakfast scheme, the attendance reached 90-95%. Also, the children are going to the schools willingly.
“Parents and the teachers say their children like the food served in the school. The teachers found that no children felt tired in school after the breakfast scheme. Moreover, parents say that the children started questioning their parents about why they could not give food like that served in school at home. Many of the working mothers said before the implementation of the breakfast scheme, they used to worry about whether their children had food or not. Now, that worry has gone,” he said.
Parents also said the breakfast scheme has freed them from the ‘morning pressure’ in sending children to schools because children are eager to go to school to have breakfast.
Asked whether the commission had studied whether the food served was nutritious, Jeyaranjan said, “This cannot be a one-time impact study. It should be recurring at frequent intervals - say every six months. This work is being done by the doctors of medical colleges in Chennai.”
On what the children preferred, Jeyaranjan said, “They like the food, particularly the sambar. They are asking whether idli and dosa could be served. Serving idli and dosa has practical problems since the batter should be kept safe till making idli and dosa. However, the government is considering how to fulfil this wish.”
The 11 reports submitted by the SPC include CM’s breakfast scheme, Makkalai Thedi Maruthuvam scheme, urban job guarantee scheme, examinations being held for students pursuing higher studies, natural resources, heat mitigation strategy, how to reduce emissions during manufacturing and transport, eradication of seemai karuvelam shrubs, issues relating to marine algae growth, and certain invasive species of plants.