By A Staff Reporter
Kathmandu, Dec 12: The Centre for Education and Human Resource Development (CEHRD) has asked the schools across the country to feed nutritious food to school children rather than ready-made junk food bought from the market.
The government gave that instruction after it received a host of complaints that the schools were providing packet foods to the children for their easiness.

The government has been providing free day meal to students up to grade 5 since fiscal year 2077/78 in an effort to keep the students in schools and prevent dropout rates.
The Centre said school has to prepare food menu on a weekly basis using locally produced food items and cook according to the standards to provide fresh, clean and balanced diet. Earlier, it published a day meal management routine to restrict the use of junk food at the schools.

The Centre has published the manual by including 60 types of food items, with priority given to the locally available foods as the mid-day meal.
Issuing a notice on Thursday, the Centre has directed all the community schools across the country not to feed junk food to the students as their mid-day meal.

The children have been getting the day meal amounting to Rs. 15 per day. School can provide beans, roti, rice, jaulo, meat, egg and other foods as nutritious day meal.
It has been found that the number of students are increasing at the schools after the introduction of the free day meal programme.