Impact of Meal Quality and Infrastructure on Attendance Under the Mid-Day Meal Program in Government Schools of Cooch Behar District, West Bengal

Education

The Mid-Day Meal (MDM) Program, a flagship initiative in India, aims to enhance school attendance and nutritional status among children in government schools. In this study the quality of meal and infrastructure are independent variables which are searched to find out its impact on attendance under the MDM Program in government primary and upper primary schools in Cooch Behar District, West Bengal. Employing a mixed-methods approach, data were collected through surveys of 300 students, 50 teachers, and 20 School Management Committee (SMC) members, complemented by interviews, focus group discussions (FGDs), and infrastructure audits across 20 schools. Findings reveal that high meal quality—characterized by nutritional adequacy, taste, and hygiene—positively correlates with a 12% increase in attendance rates (p<0.05). Adequate infrastructure, including hygienic kitchens, clean dining areas, and safe water supply, further enhances attendance by 8% (p<0.01). Nevertheless, there are still issues with the inconsistent delivery of food, the unsatisfactory conditions of kitchens, as well as the insufficient funding, which impacts the rural schools more than the urban ones. The paper proposes the enhancement of meal quality by local sourcing, infrastructure development by way of public-private partnership, and finally enhancing the SMC control to maximize the program impact. policy These results inform the policy debate on school feeding programs, where the quality of meals and facilities interact to facilitate access to education.

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