State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj said the government plans to expand the school meal programme in phases to every government primary school.
He said the objective is to ensure nutritious food for all primary-school pupils.
The minister made the remarks during a meeting at the Secretariat with Koko Ushiyama, the World Food Programme’s country director and resident representative in Bangladesh.
They discussed expansion of the programme, nutrition standards, monitoring and stronger digital management.
The discussions also considered a possible future pilot of cooked hot meals.
Hajjaj said transparent, accountable and technology-based monitoring would be important to implementing the programme successfully.
He said planning should account for differences between urban and rural areas, geography and socioeconomic conditions.
Ushiyama said school meals can contribute to nutrition, attendance, reducing dropout, learning outcomes and healthier food habits.
She said the World Food Programme has combined school meals with school gardens, nutrition education and local agriculture in other countries.
The ministry and the World Food Programme also discussed technical support to improve the Directorate of Primary Education’s existing integrated primary education information system and develop a future integrated system.
No timetable, budget, meal menu, current coverage figure or operational details for nationwide expansion were specified.