School feeding prog to reach one lakh pry students next year: Bobby Hajjaj

KHULNA, Sept 3: The government will introduce a feeding programme for 1.10 lakh students of 66,000 government primary schools across the country next year, State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj said at a news briefing at The Grand Khulna Hotel on Thursday.

The government will also expand existing initiatives to provide shoes and school bags to primary school students, he said.

The feeding programme is currently being implemented in selected schools, including 167 primary schools in Paikgachha Upazila of Khulna, Hajjaj said.

Responding to allegations about the supply and quality of food at some schools, he said laboratory tests would be conducted if supplied food was found to be rotten and that action would be taken against responsible suppliers.

The government plans to appoint 14,500 primary school teachers by December 2026, Hajjaj said. The remaining vacant teaching positions are expected to be filled within 1 to 1.5 years, he added.

Hajjaj acknowledged that the quality of primary education had declined in previous years but said the government is working to improve it.

He said the existing primary education system would be overhauled to make schools more effective and improve the quality of education. Government and private primary schools, as well as kindergartens, would eventually be brought under a government monitoring system, he said.

“Health and education are being given the highest priority among government services,” Hajjaj said.

He also said punitive action would be taken against some private schools if they were found involved in spreading false information about the government’s primary education programmes.

Earlier on Thursday, Hajjaj met primary school teachers in Khulna at an orientation and views-exchange meeting on the government primary school feeding programme. The meeting discussed class standards, school inspection procedures, teacher training, communication with the media and ways to improve primary education.

Additional Divisional Commissioner Sifat Mehnaz chaired the meeting. Khulna City Corporation Administrator Nazrul Islam Manju and other senior education officials were also present.