CHENNAI: With the state government set to expand CM's Breakfast scheme on August 26 (Tuesday) to cover government-aided schools in urban areas, P Amudha, who is one of the spokespersons for the government and secretary of the Revenue and Disaster Management department, said the scheme played a vital role in reducing the number of dropouts and improving attendance.
While speaking to reporters at the state secretariat on Monday, she said that the fifth phase of the scheme will cover as many as 2,429 government-aided schools, covering 3.06 lakh students. “The Chief Minister announced the scheme on May 7, 2022, and the pilot (first) phase commenced on September 15, 2022, covering 1,545 schools. In the second phase, 433 schools in corporations and municipalities were covered.
“In the third and fourth phases, the scheme was expanded to cover a total of 34,987 schools with 17.53 lakh schools. After the fifth phase, more than 20 lakh students will benefit in total,” she explained.
Listing out the benefits of the scheme, Amudha said that after the scheme was launched, dropouts have reduced and attendance has increased. Moreover, students have become more attentive in the classroom, she noted.
“Now, students, parents, and teachers are happy. Working mothers are happy because their children have access to a healthy breakfast. The scheme benefits 88 per cent of the students. After the expansion, the State will have 33,323 kitchens to prepare breakfast,” he added.
It is to be noted that the scheme at present covers only primary schools. When questioned about the expansion of the scheme to middle schools, the senior official maintained that the government will decide on the expansion.