Harnessing Community Efforts for Education: New Experiment in Madras State

Abstract

From Foreword: It is one of the Directive Principles of the Constitution that all the children between the age of 6 to 14 should get free and compulsory education, and this target was intended to be reached by the year 1960. When the implementation of this target was taken up. it was found that there were insuperable difficulties in the way and now we have decided that the target should be refixed so as to bring into school all the children between the age of 6 to 11 before the end of the Third Plan period. Even this will not be possible of achievement unless it is planned and programmed properly. When the Madras Government scrutinised the various problems connected with this, we found that unless a free mid-day meal was provided, it would not be possible to bring in all the poor children into school, and hence a State-wide movement for mid-day meal has been launched. In this Souvenir the details of this Mid-day Meal Scheme are given.