Free midday meal for primary students from 2024 – Education Minister

Education Minister Dr. Susil Premajayantha said steps will be taken to further increase the number of students receiving midday meal benefits under the School Feeding Programme (SFP) in 2024.

Education Minister Premajayantha was addressing the first global conference of the World School Meals Programme in Paris recently.

He said the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) is working to provide school lunch to a large number of students.

He emphasised that for the past 76 years, the GoSL has provided free education to children from Grade 1 to Graduate, which is an internationally notable feature. In addition, the 4.1 million students attending 10,135 schools islandwide, are also provided with free textbooks and school uniforms.

Accordingly, he said that in 2024, it is expected to expand the school lunch program will cover all primary students, totalling 1.6 million.

The Minister also mentioned that by 2030, free school lunches will be provided to the entire student population of 4.1 million, which is expected to increase the Budget allocation to US$ 204 million.

Next year, a State School Nutrition Assistance Fund will be established and the Legal Draftsman Department has already drafted the policy decision to introduce the related act, he said.

The Minister stressed the support of the World Food Programme, the United States Agency for International Development, as well as the local business sector and non-governmental organizations being received for the implementation of this SFP, which support is expected to continue.

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