KATHMANDU, Oct 13: Nepal’s government-sponsored day meal program at schools aims to improve children’s nutrition, boost attendance and keep students in school. But despite increased government investment, community schools say the daily allowance of Rs 20 per student remains insufficient to provide nutritious, balanced meals consistently.
The government has allocated Rs 9.537 billion for the program in fiscal year 2026/27 to provide day meals at schools to around 2.8 million children from early childhood development (ECD) to Grade 5. Funds are distributed to schools through local governments.
However, school administrators say rising food prices, staff shortages and inadequate facilities have made it difficult to meet nutritional goals. Some schools have resorted to serving dry snacks such as beaten rice, fried snacks and instant noodles instead of balanced meals.
At Durbar High School in Kathmandu, a five-member Meal and Health Promotion Committee, coordinated by teacher Yashoda Neupane and including a nurse, oversees menu planning and meal distribution.
The school has 1,200 students from ECD to Grade 10, up from 340 when classes began in its new building in 2021.
Previously, the federal government provided Rs 15 per student per day, while Kathmandu Metropolitan City contributed an additional Rs 15 to schools within the city. The combined allowance of Rs 30 enabled Durbar High School to serve meals more comfortably on its premises, according to principal Sharda Kumari Paudel.
Although the federal allowance has increased to Rs 20, Paudel said rising prices continue to make nutritious meals difficult to provide.
“Starting this academic year, we formed a meal and health promotion committee to prepare a day-wise menu, issue tokens and manage meal distribution,” she said. “The government’s allocation alone is insufficient to provide nutritious meals amid rising prices. But children in community schools like ours sometimes come to school hungry. Even the small amount provided by the government offers some relief.”
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Paudel said limited staff and inadequate space for students to sit and eat made meal management challenging. She called for regular government monitoring, increased funding and additional staff to prepare and serve meals.
The program’s budget has increased from around Rs 8 billion in the previous fiscal year, when the daily allowance was Rs 15, to Rs 9.537 billion in 2026/27.
Nilkantha Dhakal, director at the Department of Education, said the increased allocation was intended to improve the program’s effectiveness while ensuring that local governments, schools and headteachers remained accountable for meal management and quality.
Students in most districts receive Rs 20 per school day, while those in Humla, Jumla, Mugu, Dolpa and Kalikot receive Rs 25. The allowance is calculated based on student numbers and 180 school days on which classes and examinations are held.
What can Rs 20 buy?
The government wants school day meals to do more than fill children’s stomachs. Its policy aims to improve nutrition by discouraging junk food and promoting meals prepared from locally grown and indigenous agricultural products.
The Ministry of Education has introduced the Local Production-Based Nutritious School Day Meal Framework–2024 to encourage schools to use local agricultural produce. However, school administrators say implementing the framework remains difficult within the current budget.
At Gyanodaya Secondary School in Bafal, Kathmandu, around 3,000 students eat school day meals daily. Headteacher Badrinath Neupane says the school prioritizes nutritious food, but the limited allowance makes it difficult to provide balanced meals consistently.
“The federal government provides funds for children from early childhood development to Grade 5, while the metropolitan city covers Grades 6 to 10. Around 3,000 children eat meals here every day,” he said.
Managing queues and distributing tokens became difficult, so the school reached an agreement with canteen operators to deliver meals directly to classrooms.
Neupane said canteen operators had become increasingly reluctant to provide meals for Rs 20 per student because the amount did not cover the cost of nutritious food. Regularly serving balanced meals containing rice and lentils, eggs, chickpeas and fruit remains difficult within the allocation, he said.
Some schools rely on local resources and additional support to bridge the funding gap. However, local governments differ in their ability to supplement the federal allowance, leaving schools with unequal resources to provide nutritious meals.
Local food policy, uneven implementation
Dhakal said the government was encouraging local governments to prepare menus using locally available agricultural produce and arrange for meals to be cooked on school premises. Although some local governments have introduced procedures to promote locally produced food, implementation varies depending on local resources and management capacity.
Many schools lack adequate kitchens, utensils, reliable water supplies, storage facilities and trained cooks. As a result, meal preparation and distribution often become additional responsibilities for teachers, alongside their regular duties.
Some local governments provide additional funding to extend school meals to students above Grade 5, while others lack the resources to do so. School administrators say adequate facilities, personnel and funding are essential to ensure the program provides nutritious food rather than merely distributing meals.
Attendance improves, but impact remains unclear
School administrators say the program has helped improve attendance and student retention. They report that children are more likely to attend school regularly when meals are available and that hunger-related absenteeism has declined. For children who arrive at school without eating at home, the program provides food during the day and may help them concentrate on their studies.
Dhakal said funds had been released to all 753 local governments for the current academic year to provide school day meals to children from ECD to Grade 5. Around 2.8 million children nationwide receive meals through the program.
He also cited research by the Research Centre for Educational Innovation and Development (CERID) at Tribhuvan University, which found that nutritious meals could be provided within Rs 20 per student if the program were managed effectively.
The government plans to strengthen school-level meal committees to monitor nutritional quality and improve implementation. Dhakal stressed that increased funding alone would not guarantee better results without effective management and cooperation among parents, schools and local governments.
The government has issued implementation procedures for the day meal program at schools for fiscal year 2026/27, ensuring its continuation. Schools, however, say the program needs to evolve from a basic food distribution scheme into a comprehensive school nutrition initiative backed by adequate funding, trained personnel, appropriate facilities and stronger monitoring.
For community schools, the challenge remains turning the daily allowance into nutritious meals that meet children’s needs. While the program provides essential support to millions of students, school administrators say sustained investment and stronger implementation are necessary to ensure that meals served each day deliver adequate nutrition.