School feeding programme will be launched nationwide in 2027: Bobby Hajjaj

Bobby Hajjaj, State Minister for Primary and Mass Education, has informed that the school feeding programme will be launched in all schools of the country within the next 2027 academic year. There is a plan to make it effective from the beginning of the year if the results of the ongoing experimental programme remain satisfactory. However if any new error or shortage is detected in the pilot programme the implementation may be delayed a little. Even in that case the programme will be launched within the 2027 academic year, he has informed.

The state minister said these in reply to questions of journalists after inspecting various projects of the model school created by the trainees of the Primary Teachers Training Institute in Rangpur on Sunday (August 30). He informed that experimental activities of the school feeding programme are currently going on in various areas of the country. He also mentioned that the reactions received so far are positive.

Bobby Hajjaj said the final preparation for implementing the programme nationwide will be taken on the basis of the results of the pilot programme. A workshop on the ongoing piloting programme in Dinajpur is scheduled to be held on Monday. He informed that more detailed information about the progress and practical experience of the programme will be available in that workshop.

The state minister said if the results of the experimental activities remain positive in the current trend the school feeding programme will be launched nationwide from the beginning of 2027. However if any new problem is identified in the piloting some time may be needed to solve it. In that case even if it is not possible to start the activities at the beginning of the year the government is optimistic about launching the programme within the 2027 academic year.

When asked about the decrease in the number of students in the country the state minister said whether the number of students is decreasing or increasing is not the main concern of the government. The main goal of the government is that every child of the country goes to school and gets quality education. Whether a child is getting proper education is more important than where the child is taking education.

He further said it is the responsibility of the government to ensure that the institutions where there is opportunity of giving education can give education to the students properly. For this it is necessary to increase surveillance over the activities of the concerned institutions.

Regarding the role of the government Bobby Hajjaj said the government is not an institution that itself gives all kinds of services. Rather the main responsibility of the government is to ensure whether every citizen of the country is getting the necessary services. If it is not possible to reach the necessary services to the people through private or any other system in any field the government will have to take direct responsibility there. The government primary schools were established on the basis of this principle. He commented that if there is no need of government school in any area there is also no need to keep that structure there.