Impact of COVID on Education system of India and future prospects:

Problem Statement:
Missing more than a classroom: Impacts of the education system’s closure on the
Nutritional development of children

Context:
Schools play an important role in the direct provision of health and nutrition services in a child’s life
that are critical for their development. In India, 11.59 cr students are dependent on mid-day meals.
School closures due to COVID-19 have disrupted the school meal programmes distribution
channels. In India, the Midday Meals Scheme (MDMS) has been shown to decrease calorie deficits in
children by 30 per cent.  MDMS was associated with 13-32% of India’s improvement in height-for-
age z-scores (HAZ) between 2006 and 2016.  Currently the Anganwadi Scheme facilitates
Supplementary Nutrition, Immunization and Health Check-ups to 7.95 crore children (below the age
of 6 years) and 1.86 Crore pregnant and lactating mothers.

Impact:
There is also a strong link between malnutrition and the cognitive development of children. Nutrition
in the early years of a child’s life can affect brain development at various levels. Investments made in
school meals in previous decades were associated with improvements in future child linear growth.
35% of children are not receiving mid-day meals. School closures of any sort, even routine ones, often
result in increased dropout rates and lead to losses in lifetime educational attainment. But it has also
impacted the nutritional aspects of those children. Severe malnourishment is an acute situation with a
close relationship with mortality and six months is a long time for an essential service like
anganwadis to be shut. Girl education is already a debated topic in rural households and in that
scenario, Mid-day meals serve as a supporting factor for them to not drop out. There is also a strong
link between malnutrition and the cognitive development of children. For nutrition in the early years
of a child’s life can affect brain development at various levels.

Solution:
A comprehensive solution would lie in enriching the nutritional contents of MDM by supplementing
the existing menu with more fruits, milk, cereals and vegetables to compensate for the nutritional
imbalance of the child. The distribution of these supplements with Hot-Cooked meals should be done
through schools via a Meal-Voucher system while ensuring unconditional access to prohibit
disenrollment.
1. Take Home Rations:
THRs have benefits that go beyond the child receiving the ration. Research in Burkina Faso
indicated that younger siblings of children receiving take-home rations showed significantly
higher weight for age than a control group. The ration pack must include a complete ration
kit, including snacks, heavy in multivitamins. The pack distribution could be executed by
government vans distributing one day per week or by students being called to schools one day
per week.

2. Meal Cards:
Children could be allotted a meal card. The government would recharge the card per month
for 2 meals per day. This would require installation of distribution centres in the rural areas or
distribution centres in schools. The children would go and tap the card and receive the meal
for breakfast and similarly lunch.