NILPHAMARI, Dec 9, 2020 (BSS) – Over 1.71 lakh students of 1,014 primary level educational institutions of five upazilas here received about 694.63 tonnes of nutritious biscuits in the fourth phase during the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Officials said the door-to-door distribution of the biscuits with 54 packets among each of the students for October, November and December began from November 17 and ended today.
Earlier, distribution of 513.52 tonnes of nutritious biscuits with 40 packets among each of the 1.71 lakh students for August and September completed in September in the third phase.
Besides, 513.52 tonnes of nutritious biscuits with 40 packets among each of the students were distributed in July in the second phase after distributing 641.91 tonnes of biscuits among them with 50 packets each in the first phase in May last.
Directorate of Primary Education under School Feeding Programme (SFP) of Ministry of Primary and Mass Education distributed the biscuits in poverty-prone areas with assistance of local administrations through RDRS Bangladesh.
The Upazila Nirbahi Officers, Upazila Education Officers, Headmasters, Assistant Teachers and Members of School Managing Committees and School Feeding Officers of RDRS Bangladesh reached the biscuits to the students’ doorsteps.
The biscuits were distributed among the students of 996 government primary schools, Shishu Kallyan Trust-run five schools and 13 ebtedayee madrasah in Sadar, Kishoreganj, Jaldhaka, Domar and Dimla upazilas abiding by the health directives.
Talking to BSS, Project Coordinator Anondo Kumar Poul of the SFP of RDRS Bangladesh said the biscuits were distributed door-to-door to meet nourishments of the students for smooth studies amid COVID-19 outbreak since March 17 last.
Since 2012, each student of the 1,014 primary level educational institutes of five upazilas are getting one packet of high energetic biscuits containing 75 gram each daily.
“The SFP was launched to reduce school drop-outs and improve learning capacity of students by removing micronutrient deficiency to ensure universal primary education by ensuring access to basic education for all children from poor households,” Poul added.
Kishoreganj Upazila Assistant Education Officer (UAEO) Sheikh Md. Mahtabur Rahman launched the door-to-door biscuit distribution on November 17 last while Jaldhaka UAEO Krishna Kaberi Biswas finished the process today in the fourth phase.
District Primary Education Officer Nobez Uddin Sarker lauded the government initiative of distributing nutritious biscuits among the students in poverty-prone areas to meet their nutrition for smooth studies during the COVID-19 pandemic.
BSS/MI/FI/ 1425 hrs