Minister for Federal Education and Professional Training Shafqat Mahmood on Wednesday inaugurated “School Meal Programme” to provide free lunch meals to students of government educational institutions in Islamabad.
Under the initiative, the government has started providing free lunch meals to 25,000 students of 100 schools on daily basis.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by Quaid-e-Azam University Vice Chancellor Dr Muhammad Ali Shah, IBCC Secretary Dr Ghulam Ali Mallah and Federal Directorate of Education DG Dr Ikram Ali Malik.
Speaking on the occasion, Shafqat said that the free meals for students will be provided by the Allahwala Trust and thanked the private trust for helping the government in this regard.
“Such institutions are a beacon for us. We will take this programme forward at the government level as well,” he said.
“I had a meeting with the director of UNICEF and looked forward to launching the model across the country but faced budget restraints,” he added.
He said that poverty is among several other reasons due to which many children do not go to school.
“This is the first step wherein food will be provided to primary school children, and soon it will be introduced in all primary schools across Islamabad”, he maintained.
