The purpose of the study of the midday meal scheme in Delhi was to focus on the quality of functioning of this scheme right in the capital itself. The study was funded under the Small Grant Programme of the Trust.
Primary education through government schools is provided by the Delhi government and by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and by the New Delhi Municipal Council (NDMC). In its research, CORD concentrated on MCD schools, which cover the largest proportion of children enrolled in government primary schools, and which have the highest proportion of children from slum areas and disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds.
MCD has decided to decentralize the entire system, wherein District Education Officers (DEO) in charge of the different zones in Delhi have the responsibility of selecting NGOs and private caterers to do the actual cooking, handing over the food grains to these NGOs from the nearest Food Corporation of India (FCI) godowns and reimbursing their expenses. There are now 11 suppliers running 13 kitchens, each feeding 25,000 to 100,000 children per day.
Methodology and sample
The fieldwork had a school survey component and a household survey component, conducted in mid 2005. It was supplemented by visits to some of the kitchens where the food was cooked. In the school survey, observation was a key research tool, as were semi structured interviews with the teachers as well as the supplier's employees who were distributing the food. The school sample consisted of twelve schools in six outlying areas of Delhi where the proportion of slum population is high. In each of the six areas, the morning and afternoon shift in the same school premises was done, thus capturing the experiences of both boys and girls, as the girls are generally allotted the morning shift and the boys the afternoon shift. The household sample consisted of 10 households from each site, selected on the condition that they had a child enrolled in one of the sample schools in that area. Parents and children were interviewed.
The Study
In contrast to the time when fruity bread and biscuits were distributed, the energy put in by the MCD into the functioning of the midday meal programme has seen a sea-change. Today 950,000 children in 1,863 schools are being provided freshly cooked food on schooldays. CORD's visits to the school suggested that the meal is a great highlight of the school day and children genuinely welcome it. In one school, CORD's surveyors observed children with eyes shut, in finger licking bliss.
The MCD has appointed an independent body, like the NFI, to conduct regular evaluations to ensure that the food provided is of acceptable quantity and quality. These evaluations are playing a crucial role. CORD's survey also indicated that feedback from children and parents was crucial for the meal to have a better impact, whether it be through PTA meetings or otherwise.
There is considerable scope for improvement on several levels.
1. To begin with, the following highlight the deficiencies, in terms of fulfilling of Supreme Court orders.
a. Quality and quantity of meal served is likely to be below the minimum stipulated by the Supreme Court (300 calories and 8-12 grams of protein). CORD's findings are based on observation of the food distributed in school and conversations with the children during the household survey, and are confirmed by an NFI study.
b. Quality of rice provided by FCI was not of "good quality", as specified by the Supreme Court: There were complaints about the quality of rice from the suppliers - it was full of stones and it was impossible to cook in bulk, so they actually exchanged it in the open market for a better quality of rice.
c. Dalits, Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes were not given preference in the appointment of cooks and helpers.
d. Infrastructure to enable the scheme to function optimally was not present in the school: While infrastructural facilities in the kitchens appear to have received considerable attention, facilities at the schools themselves were far from adequate, particularly access to water for the children to wash their hands or to drink.
2. The meal needs to go beyond the minimum in terms of nutrients provided. No attention was paid to combating deficiencies in micronutrients. The term "midday meal" is itself a misnomer for what is given to Delhi's school children.
3. The midday meal scheme needs to be linked with other health inputs. Parents need nutrition and health education so they can be aware of the widespread undernourishment among children in this age group, its impact and what can be done about it. Teachers also need to have much greater awareness of the rationale behind the cooked midday meal scheme and the potential impact on education of this and other inputs into the children's health.
4. Supplementary benefits of the midday meal scheme were not being explored. These include:
a. Schools were neglecting the chance to teach the children about hygienic eating habits, related both to personal hygiene and understanding the importance of the cleanliness of the surrounding areas.
b. Children from one grade could be encouraged to sit and eat together.
c. Various aspects of a cooked meal could be made part of the curriculum. The meal gives teachers a chance to use a daily and shared experience in classroom teaching.
d. Parents could be encouraged to have more contact and hence more communication with the school.
e. Well-funded organisations could be encouraged to adopt schools and provide additional funds if required.
5. The cooked midday meal scheme in Delhi is having a positive impact on education through:
a. Improving equity. It is drawing children to school, particularly those from poor families. Teachers and parents indicate that attendance of children is much better and that the cooked meal is a draw.
b. Reducing the gender gap. It has the potential to significantly improve the attentiveness of children who come from the 7.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. shift. The majority of these are girls and 55% (17 out of 30) of those interviewed said they came to school having had at most chai (tea) and fan (a long dry thin piece of toast).
c. Maintaining the amount of teaching time. It is important to note that the midday meal in itself is not disrupting the teaching environment in schools and that it has several beneficial impacts for children. Care has certainly been taken to see that teachers are not burdened by meal procedures.
6. However, lack of serious teaching and child security is an independent and vexing problem.
Teaching quality was sorely indicted by 60% of households in the sample. So although children were being drawn into school, because many of the schools functioned poorly they were not necessarily staying on in school after the meal was distributed. Boys were particularly vulnerable to being in less functional schools.
Parents were rightly disturbed by this situation and constantly reiterated that education was more important for them than any school feeding programme. What parents are asking for is what is already envisaged in plan documents, where it is suggested that a Committee, which should be set up to look after the implementation of the programme, should ensure and look after the convergence of the midday meal programme with primary education.
Children in vulnerable situations are most likely to drop out or be taken out as a result of poor functioning schools, since the perceived costs of sending them are high, and with low-quality schooling the perceived benefits of sending them are low. This would negatively impact both equity and gender considerations in taking universalisation of education forward.
The study was done by Anuradha De, Claire Noronha and Meera Samson, all from CORD
