Karnataka education officials asked to evaluate pros and cons of cluster kitchen system for midday meals

Bengaluru Considering the request of Government Primary School Teachers’ Association, the Joint Director of the PM Poshan Shakti Nirman scheme, under the Department of School Education and Literacy (DSEL), has instructed Deputy Directors of Public Instruction (DDPIs) and Block Education Officers (BEOs) of all districts in Karnataka to examine the pros and cons of adapting “cluster kitchen centre” system to provide midday meals to government schools.

Government school teachers’ association seeks cluster kitchen centres for midday meal programme storyline 1 Highlighting the workload on government school teachers, the association had requested the government to open cluster kitchens rather than prepare midday meals at every individual school. The association had submitted a formal request to the Principal Secretary of the School Education Department and the Director of the PM Poshan Abhiyan.

Tasks of teachers The association has argued that teachers are already burdened with several administrative tasks, including the school enrolment abhiyan, student scholarship enrolment and registration, and updating records in the Student Achievement Tracking System (SATS), apart from maintaining attendance records in the Nirantara app. This is in addition to responsibilities related to midday meals.

Holistic report cards for Karnataka government school and PU students from this academic year storyline 1 Teachers are also continuously deployed for census and other non-academic duties. Around 65,000 teachers had been deployed for the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls in Karnataka. ‘They have studied nothing’: Teachers away from classrooms for SIR; mid-term, SSLC preparatory exams near storyline 1 Karnataka SIR: Teaching on the back burner Karnataka SIR: Teaching on the back burner Children in government and aided schools across Karnataka have not seen several of their teachers for months, for most of them have been assigned as Booth Level Officers for the Special Intensive Revision of electoral rolls.

Students tell Rishita Khanna that what initially seemed like fun with many free hours, is now making them anxious... Spotlight Karnataka SIR: Teaching on the back burner storyline 1 Under the existing system, teachers oversee the procurement of groceries, milk, greens, vegetables, eggs and bananas, besides supervising food preparation and distribution. They are also required to maintain related records on the SATS and Nirantara apps.

NGOs in cities However, various non-governmental organisations (NGOs) such as ISKCON’s Akshaya Patra and Adamya Chetana are already supplying midday meals through cloud kitchens or cluster kitchens in Bengaluru, Hubballi and other urban centres. Therefore, the association has proposed establishing similar cluster-level kitchen centres across the State and allocating them to associations, organisations, self-help groups or Stree Shakti Sanghas for the preparation and supply of midday meals to government schools within each cluster.

“This would relieve teachers of midday meal responsibilities and enable them to focus on teaching,” the association urged.