From Colombo schools to the most rural districts of Sri Lanka, an increasing proportion of children do not have enough to eat at home, and attendance has plummeted dramatically.
Principals, teachers, and school administrators have been working hard to develop strategies to help youngsters cope.
According to Wimal Piyatissa, executive secretary of the Joint Teachers’ Service Union, malnutrition has been present in the country for a long time but has exacerbated due to the economic collapse. While the government had previously announced a plan to give meals to 1.1 million pupils, this has not occurred in the last two years.
He claimed that allocating Rs. 30 to provide a meal for a pupil is pointless at a time when food inflation is at 90% and parents’ wages have been decreased or lost.
Mr. Piyatissa claims that the situation in Colombo is significantly worse than in the villages, where pupils can get food and water.
“We need a system that takes into account both rural and urban communities,” he remarked.
Mohan Parakrama Weerasinghe, principal of Kotahena Central College and general secretary of the National Principals Association, stated his institution includes pupils from low-income households that are in severe need.
With the help of the teachers, the school is currently delivering gruel (kenda) to students. Each grade level gets its own day. This began in the final week of the previous term. Many of the students’ parents work full-time, and the students support their parents as well.
Parents have even stopped sending their children to tuition sessions, he noted, blaming politicians for the misery.
Children are unable to grasp school lessons if they do not have appropriate nutrients.
Mr. Weerasinghe stated that a child he observed with pale eyes has four siblings. The father works as a mason, and the mother manages a kottu restaurant. After receiving a rice dinner, the child worshipped his teacher.
He claims that only about 60% of pupils now attend school, and that the length of the morning assembly has been cut.
Counsellors assisted to prevent the suicide of a severely depressed child on one occasion, he added.
D. M. S. Premathilake, principal of Kadawatha Mahabodhi College and chairman of the Principals Service Union, has met with business leaders in Colombo to discuss ways to give gruel for poor children.
Even though the government increased the Rs. 30 per student supplied to schools to Rs. 60 in August, it has yet to be distributed and is insufficient.
Mr. Premathilake claimed that children who had come with their parents, who were performing small jobs in Colombo, had already returned to their villages, while additional youngsters were collapsing at the morning assembly because they had not eaten breakfast and had skipped dinner.
The principal of Siyuralumulla Primary School, Naveendra Liyanage, said it is encouraging to see students return to school.
Morning assembly has been cancelled at the school. For all three meals, students consume solely rice and dhal. If a kid is missing a mid-day meal, a teacher will gather food from other students and distribute it to those in need.
He acknowledges that, unlike in metropolitan schools, his school in the province is not in need because village children have access to jackfruit.
Previously, just one or two children were found to be underweight and not growing in height; this year, 25% were reported to be such.
According to Mahinda Jayasinghe, general secretary of the Ceylon Teacher Service Union, this is a major issue.
He stated that some children bring merely two string hoppers or one mouthful of rice with sambol to school. He believes that increasing the provision for school meals from Rs. 30 to Rs. 60 is insufficient.
Mr. Jayasinghe urged that the government conduct a countrywide census to identify solutions to malnutrition.