Project to Improve Attendance at Schools
Feeding biscuits to 73,326 working children launched
A school feeding programme was launched at Mohakhali in the city yesterday for urban working children to improve attendance and completion rates at learning centres.
Under the programme, all working children at learning centres will receive a 75-gram packet of eight biscuits six days a week. This food ration provides 338 kilocalories and 67 percent of the recommended daily allowance of micronutrients, said a press release.
A total of 73,326 children enrolled in the Basic Education for Hard to Reach Urban Working Children (BEHTRUWC) project will be reached through the programme, said a press release. The children are aged between 10 to 14 and 60 percent are girls.
Under the programme, gradually micronutrient-fortified biscuits will be provided to the children in 3,333 learning centres in Dhaka, Chittagong, Rajshahi, Khulna, Sylhet and Barisal, it said.
The programme will be implemented jointly by the Bureau of Non-Formal Education (BNFE) under the primary and mass education ministry, World Food Programme (WFP) and Unicef Bangladesh.
Secretary of the ministry, WFP Bangladesh representative Christa Rader and Unicef representative Carel de Roony spoke at the function.
