(a) whether the Government is aware that instead of teaching the students, the
teachers spend the entire day in cooking and serving the meals to the school children;
(b) if so, the details thereof along with the action taken by the Government in
this regard;
(c) whether the Mid-Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) is likely to improve the educational
level of the students; and
(d) if so, the details thereof?
MINISTER OF STATE IN THE MINISTRY OF HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT (Dr. SHASHI THAROOR)
(a) & (b): No, Madam. The Mid Day Meal Scheme (MDMS) Guidelines, 2006 stipulate that
under no circumstances the teachers will be assigned responsibilities, which impede
or interfere with the teaching/learning process in schools. Their involvement in
the programme is limited to ensuring that good quality, wholesome food is served to
children and actual serving and eating is undertaken in a spirit of togetherness,
under hygienic conditions and in an orderly manner. At present 25.32 lakh Cook-
cum-Helpers have been engaged under the Scheme for cooking and serving the meals
to the school children, to save on precious teaching learning time.
(c) & (d): The Government adopts an integrated approach in the implementation of
the Scheme in keeping with principles of the National Policy on Education, to ensure
education of equitable quality for all to fully harness the nation’s human resource
potential. The improvement in the Net Enrolment Ratio in Primary Education from
84.53% in 2005-06 to 99.89% in 2011-12 and the proportion of pupils reaching Grade
V from 71.01% in 2005 to 73.42% in 2010-11; the reduction in the dropout rate at
elementary level from 60.9% to 40.06% in the year 2010-11 and out of school children
from 13.4 million in 2005 to 2.9 million in 2012-13 indicates an improvement in the
access to education for eligible children.