DISSERTATION PROPOSAL

A STUDY ON THE PERFORMANCE EVALUATION OF MID DAY MEAL

SCHEME FOR THE STUDENTS OF PRIMARY CLASSES UNDER INDIAN
EDUCATION SYSTEM

The research proposal submitted to the Indira Gandhi national Open

University for partial fulfillment of the requirement of the award of
the
Post Graduate Diploma in Education Management and Administration

Submitted by

Suren Koundal
Enrolment No.
135616346
(Jun 2013)

Guided by
Professior Shri Vikas Choubey
COMM-IT ACADEMY
FC-31, Sheikh Sarai Phase-II, New Delhi17. (STUDY CENTRE CODE-0739)

SCHOOL OF EDUCATION
INDIRA GANDHI NATIONAL OPEN UNIVERSITY NEW DELHI.

A ST UDY ON PERFORM ANCE E VALU ATION OF MID D AY ME AL SCHEME

FOR THE ST UDENT S OF PRIM ARY CL ASSES UNDER INDI AN EDUC ATION
SY STEM

INTRODUCTION:The concept of supplementary nutritional support through educational institutions took its root
in India, when Madras Corporation developed a school lunch program in 1925. In the post
independence era, Gujarat was the first state to start school lunch programme in 1984. However,
it was only in 1995 that the National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education
(NP- NSPE) was launched as a Centrally Sponsored Scheme on 15th August 1995, initially
in 2408 blocks in the country.
By 1997-98 it was introduced in all blocks of the country. The then union territory
of Delhi followed suit immediately. The objective of this programme was to give boost to
universalisation of primary education and to impact the nutritional intake of students in
primary classes. The National Programme of Nutritional Support to Primary Education (NPNSPE) was It was further extended in 2002 to cover children studying in EGS and AIE
centres. Central Assistance under the scheme consisted of free supply of food grains @
100 grams per child per school day, and subsidy for transportation of food grains up to a
maximum of Rs 50 per quintal. Since then, the programme was revised in 2004 and is
popularly known as the Mid Day Meal (MDM)
In September 2004 the scheme was revised to provide cooked mid day meal with 300
calories and 8-12 grams of protein to all children studying in classes I V in Government
and aided schools and EGS/AIE centres. In addition to free supply of food grains, the
revised scheme provided Central Assistance for (a) Cooking cost @ Re 1 per child per
school day, (b) Transport subsidy was raised from the earlier maximum of Rs. 50 per
quintal to Rs.
100 per quintal for special category states, and Rs. 75 per quintal for other states, (c)
Management, monitoring and evaluation costs @ 2% of the cost of food-grains, transport
subsidy and cooking assistance, (d) Provision of mid day meal during summer vacation in
drought affected areas.
In July 2006 the scheme was further revised to provide assistance for cooking cost
at the rate of (a) Rs 1.80 per child/school day for States in the North Eastern Region, provided
the NER States contribute Rs 0.20 per child/school day, and (b) Rs 1.50 per child/ school
day for other States and UTs, provided that these States and UTs contribute Rs 0.50 per
child/school day.
In October 2007, the scheme has been further revised to cover children in upper
primary (classes VI to VIII) initially in 3479 Educationally Backwards Blocks (EBBs).
Around 1.7 crore upper primary children were included by this expansion of the scheme.
The Significance of Study
The study has tried to examine the implementation process and the impact of the cooked mid day
meal consequent to revisions of the scheme over a period of time. Further, its implementation has
undergone various changes over the years. Studies taken up by other organizations/ agencies mainly
focused on the quantitative aspects while this evaluation study has tried to give a direction to guide
the policy makers and implementers not only in the quantitative aspects, but also on the qualitative

aspects of impact of the scheme i.e. nutritional improvement and social equity among the
beneficiaries
Research Questions
What is the impact of continuous performance evaluation of Mid day meal scheme
in primary education?
What are the reactions of the students and parents of primary classes students
towards Mid day meal scheme?
Objectives of the Study
The main objectives of the evaluation study were to assess t h e availability of infrastructure
for implementation of MDM. Further to access the effect of the scheme on improvement in
enrolement, attendance, retention and nutritional status of children. To examine significance of
difference in the attitude of elementary teacher towards guardian differing in certain background
variables and suggest various ways of developing a positive and favorable Mid Day Meal
Programme and attitude among the Elementary Teacher and Guardian.
Hypothesis
Ho 1. Performance evaluation of Mid day meal scheme suggest that overall ample
infrastructure is available for better implementation of the schme.
Ho 2. Implementation of mid day meal scheme results shows increading trendes in enrolment,
attendence and retention.
Ho 3. There will be no difference of opinion among the teachers regarding different
dimension of the questionnaire.
Ho 4. There will be no difference of opinion among the guardians regarding different
dimension of the questionnaire.
Operational definition of the Terms
1) Assess: In this study, assess refers to evaluating the level of knowledge and of teachers
regarding mid day meals.
2) Food: In this study, food refers to a substance containing essential nutrients provided to children
through mid day meal program.
3) Implementation: In this study it refers to a application or execution of mid day meals.
4) MDM: In this study, it refers to the Mid Day Meal scheme..
5) Significance: In this study, it refers to the importance of mid day meals.
6) School: In this study, it refers to a government or private institution established to provide
formal education to children.
Population and sample for the study

The data will be collected from the primary school teachers at selected primary schools of west
Delhi and various state govt resources such as web sites and reports etc.
i) Research Design:
Descriptive correlational design will be used.

ii) Research Variables:

a. Study variables: knowledge and attitude of primary school Teachers regarding mid day
meals.
b. Demographic variables: Age, sex, education, religion, year of experience, Area of
residence, location of school etc
iii) Sample:
50 teachers who fulfill the inclusion criteria will comprise the sample.
iv) Criteria for Sample Selection:
a) Inclusion criteria:
School teachers who are present at the time of data collection at selected primary
schools.
School teachers who are willing to participate in the study.
b) Exclusion criteria:
The teachers who are not available at the time of data collection.
vii) Sampling Technique:
Convenaient sampling technique
viii) Tools for data collection:
Part I- Demographic profile
Part II-Structured knowledge questionnaire on mid day meals
Part III- Structured Attitude scale on mid day meals
ix) Method of Data collection:
Self administered questionnaire on knowledge and attitude scale will be administered to
subjects for the purpose of data collection
x) Plan of Data Analysis:
The collected data will be analyzed by the descriptive & inferential statistics.
Descriptive Statistics:
1) Demographic data will be analyzed by using frequency and percentage
2) Knowledge and attitude will be analyzed by using mean standard deviation, mean
percentage.
Inferential Statistics:
1) Correlation between attitude and knowledge will be analyzed Using correlation co-efficient.
Delimitation of the study
The study will be limited to the students of primary classes (I-VIII) enrolled in the
schools of West Delhi (Three schools only).
The study will be limited to collection of the students data from various state Govt.
resources.
Findings and Suggestion
The researcher will record result, findings and suggestions according to the outcomes
of data analysis.

References
School Visits: Understanding the scheme through personnel visit to west Delhi Govt
schools, Its implication and problems
Websites:- Various states govt websites.
Khera R., Mid day meals in Primary Schools: Achievements and Challenges.
Economic and Political Weekly 2006.
Ministry of Human Resource Development. National Program of Nutritional
Support to Primary Education Guidelines. New Delhi: GOI; 2006.
Dreze J., Goyal A., Future of mid day meals, Economic and Political Weekly
2003.
Jain J., Shah M., Antyodaya Anna Yojana and Mid day meals in MP, Economic
and Political Weekly 2005.
De A., Samson M., Noronha C., Towards more benefits from Delhis Mid-Day
Meal scheme 2005.
National Nutrition Monitoring Bureau. Diet and Nutritional Status of Rural
Populations. Hyderabad: National Institute of Nutrition, Indian Council of Medical
Research; 2002.
Thorat S., Lee J., Caste Discrimination and Food Security Programmes,
Economic and Political Weekly 2005; 40: 4198-4201.
Gopalan C., Farms to Pharmacies: Beginnings of a sad decline.
o Economic and Political Weekly 2007; 42: 3535-3536.
Mitra Deshpande, Rajiv Dasgupta, Ram Baru & Aparna, The case for
cooked mid day meal: Concern regarding the proposed policy shifts in the mid
day meal programs
Bedi, Dealjit Singh and Pattnaik, Satyanarayan, Universalisation of Primary
Education-A Myth or Reality, Kurukshetra, vol. XLV, No.12, September 1997.
The Probe Team in association with Centre for Development Economics: Public
Report on Basic Education in India, Oxford University Press, New Delhi, 1999
Dr. Mishra S.N., Dr. Behera, M, A comparative study of nutritional support to
primary education (Mid-day meals scheme) in Orissa and Tamil Nadu, April, 2000
Theivamani R. (1986) A study of the impact of the mid day meal schemes on
enrolment and retention in the primary and middle schools in Trichirapalli, India.
Yazali Josephine, Impact of mid day meals programmes on enrolment
and
retention of girls in primary schools of West Garo Hills in Meghalaya
A report of Government of NCT of Delhi regarding cooked mid day meal-2007
Brinda Viswanathan (Feb. 2003) Household food security and Integrated Child
Development Services in India
Girija S., Noon Meal schemes in Tamil Nadu: An analysis of some issues,
2002.
Web [Link].