Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education in Partnership with Save the Children Inaugural National School Meal Forum in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka’s inaugural National School Meal Forum brought government officials, development partners and education stakeholders together to discuss stronger coordination and the long-term sustainability of school feeding.

The Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education convened the forum with Save the Children’s support. Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya attended the national dialogue.

Led by the ministry’s School Health and Nutrition Branch, discussions examined links between school meals, support for meal providers, school gardens and school-based health services.

Participants also considered establishing a technical working group involving relevant ministries and partners to improve coordination across the programme. They shared experiences and approaches that could be adopted more widely.

According to the organisers, school feeding in Sri Lanka dates to 1931. The ministry currently provides meals to more than one million children in Grades 1 to 5 across over 8,000 government schools.

B. W. G. Dilhani, director of education at the School Health and Nutrition Branch, stressed the need for stronger partnerships and coordination to sustain the National School Meal Programme. She described the forum as an opportunity to agree priorities and identify practical improvements.

Save the Children’s contribution is supported by the United States Department of Agriculture’s McGovern-Dole International Food for Education and Child Nutrition programme.

Through its PALAM/A II project, the organisation supplements the government programme with food commodities for more than 900 schools, reaching over 98,000 children across eight districts, according to Save the Children.

The project also includes activities addressing learning, literacy, health and nutrition alongside food provision.

Micah Olad, Save the Children’s chief of party, emphasised sustained investment, government leadership and cooperation across sectors. He outlined the organisation’s role in strengthening systems, generating evidence and building partnerships.

The forum’s discussions covered implementation, coordination and recommendations intended to support more sustainable school feeding across Sri Lanka.