CHENNAI: Government school students may soon get one more reason to attend school as the state government is seriously considering serving chicken biryani once a week under the midday meal scheme. School Education Minister A Rajmohan said that the proposal has already been placed before the chief minister and was under consideration.
The suggestion was among the several demands raised by representatives of more than 80 teacher associations during a consultative meeting convened by the minister on Tuesday, ahead of the state Budget on August 5.
“We requested the government to improve the quality of rice supplied under the midday meal scheme and introduce chicken biryani once a week. We also urged the government to entrust the implementation of the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme to noon meal workers and regularise their services,” a representative of a teachers association said. Responding to the proposal, Rajmohan said it was already under consideration.
Meanwhile, highly placed department sources told TNIE that any decision to introduce biryani would be taken by including the Social Welfare and Women Empowerment Department as the noon meal scheme is implemented by them, adding that the government might view the proposal favourably.
Apart from the biryani proposal, the associations sought the extension of both the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme and the noon meal scheme to students up to Class 12.
At present, the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme covers students in classes 1 to 8 (with the extension in September), benefiting around 32 lakh children. The noon meal scheme is implemented up to Class 10 and benefits around 40 lakh students. Teacher associations said extending the noon meal scheme to classes 11 and 12, a long-pending demand, would bring another eight lakh students under it.
Teacher associations have also sought relief for teachers appearing for the special Teacher Eligibility Test (TET) following the Supreme Court’s ruling making TET mandatory for eligible appointments. They urged the government to grant weightage for teaching experience, reduce the qualifying marks and prescribe a uniform pass mark across all communities.
“The special TET is for the continuation of service and not for the appointment of new teachers. There is no legal bar on granting weightage marks for teaching experience or reducing the qualifying marks. There should be a uniform pass mark for all communities,” said A Mayavan, founder-president of the Tamil Nadu
High and Higher Secondary School Graduate Teachers’ Association.
Other long-pending demands include implementation of equal pay for equal work for secondary grade teachers and enhancement of maintenance grants for government schools.
Addressing the gathering, Rajmohan said the government would digitise all representations submitted by the associations and categorise them to facilitate faster resolution. He said the demands would be prioritised and that the government would make every effort to resolve as many as possible.
