TEAM HERALD
teamherald@herald-goa.com
PANJIM: The education department has finalised 146 Self Help Groups to supply meals under the midday meal scheme, and now given schools the liberty to choose the SHG that would supply meals to them, with the assistance of the respective Parents and Teachers Associations.
The Director of Education Anil Powar said that earlier there were 81 SHGs and this figure has now doubled.
“The aim of having more SHGs is to facilitate supply of food to smaller clusters of school children and to ensure quality and hygiene,” Powar said.
“As of now the same menu will continue till we finalise a new menu,” he said adding that there are no immediate plans of transferring the implementation of the MDMS to any other education agency.
He said that ADEIs who have been entrusted the task of surveying the quantum of consumption of the midday meal and the wastage involved would be submitting their reports shortly after which the department will be able to assess the response to the existing scheme.
He said that even though directions were given to schools to submit their say on whether they were interested in the scheme or not has evoked with absolutely no response.
“We have not received any report from any school so far,” the education director said.
Meanwhile, so far three schools have been granted exemption from implementing extended school timings including Loyola High School, Margao,and another two from North Goa.
Herald was also told that so far no application has been received from any school expressing interest in introducing full day school.
