Hyderabad: Wages of 54k mid-day meal workers enhanced

Hyderabad: Education Minister P Sabitha Indra Reddy has announced that the government has decided to increase the wages of Midday Meal Workers.

The increased wages will be given from this month and will benefit 54,201 cook-cum helpers who are currently working in various schools in the State.

The Minister said that the increase in wages is in line with the government's commitment to providing quality education to all children. She said that the increased wages will help to attract and retain good quality Midday Meal Workers and will ensure that the children are provided with nutritious and healthy meals.

The Minister also instructed the District Education Officers to release the funds related to Midday meals from time to time and to ensure that quality food is provided to the students. She also asked them to increase supervision of the Midday Meal Scheme to ensure that it is implemented effectively.

In addition to the increase in wages, the minister also announced that the state government will be conducting a state-level achievement survey every year from this year to identify the minimum abilities of the students at the school level.

The minister said that the results of this survey will be used to take corrective action in order to improve the quality of education in the State.

The Minister also instructed the DEOs to take steps to increase the enrollment percentage of students in primary schools.

She said that the government is committed to providing free and compulsory education to all children up to the age of 14, and that the DEOs should play a key role in achieving this goal.

The meeting was attended by Education Department Secretary Vakati Karuna, School Education Director Devasena, and other officials.