ROLE OF PARENTS AND TEACHERS IN THE CONDUCT OF THE SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAMME
The role of parents and teachers in the successful conduct of the school lunch programme is vital. Each teacher should evince a genuine interest in the health of his pupils. He should not be satisfied with mere serving of meals to the children but he should pay equal attention towards improving their nutritional knowledge and inculcating good food habits. Special efforts should be taken by the teachers in maintaining a profitable school garden. They should also participate in gardening work along with the children to encourage them. Children feel extremely proud and happy when the produce of their effort in the school garden is utilised for their lunch itself. Gardening also gives the group work experience, enjoyment in the outcome of the work done and knowledge in agriculture and nutrition.
Teachers must consider the spread of nutritional information to parents as an important educational objective. They should establish a Parent Teacher Association, and through it encourage the parents to participate in the school lunch programme. Other opportunities through which the Association can take part in the school activities are:
1. Filmshows on nuritional information
2. Celebrations of Children's day
3. Maintenance of school garden
4. Pongal festival
5. School lunch meeting with parents
6. Arranging competitions and exhibitions
7. Conducting entertainments and discourses
8. Organising debates
9. Giving opportunity to parents to attend important functions and meetings and
10. Making arrangements to have discussions between parents and teachers over the radio.
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On occasions of parents meetings, teachers should utilise the opportunity to explain to the parents the health condition of their children, their nutritional needs and measures to be taken to improve their health. The teachers can also demonstrate the desirable method of cooking different foods, use of recipes, and other facts.
Parents' role does not stop with sending their children to school. Availing the opportunities given by the school, they should get to know the teachers, have healthy discussions with them and be helpful to the school in as many ways as possible. When the Association is very strong, the parents can be utilised in assisting the programme in the following ways:
Food preparation 1. Purchasing and storing the foods
2. Cleaning the foods
3. Cutting the vegetables
4. Supervising the cleanliness of the kitchen
5. Helping in preparing new recipes and
6. Serving food in an attractive way.
Assessment of nutritional status of children Help to measure the heights and weights of children every month and maintaining records.
Spreading the nutritional knowledge 1. Help to maintain the school lunch garden and produce vegetables and fruits
2. Help to take children on excursion
3. Tell stories and sing songs
4. Tell other parents, the benefits derived by their children through the school lunch programme and
5. Come forward to change the existing food habits, accept new ideals and educate others.
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Helping the programme with cash and kind 1. Parents can contribute their garden produce towards preparing the school lunch. For example during seasons, if one brinjal. per head is contributed by a family, the total amount received will be more than what is actually needed. The age old custom of handful of rice contribution can also be utilised in this effort.
2. If each family contributes one paise per day that itself will become a large sum.
3. With all the contributions received, a permanent endowment should be established by the school and the interest received from that amount should be utilised for the school lunch only. If this is achieved sucessfully, the teachers need not strain to collect money every time and
4. Contributing land for school garden. The parents should contribute as much as possible in one or more ways for the successful conduct of the school lunch programme.