“Food for education” is not just another phrase for The Akshaya Patra Foundation. It is the reason of its existence. Akshaya Patra is a NGO based in Bangalore implementing the mid-day meal programme. It is providing food to children studying in Government school across 9 states of India. It opines that education can eliminate illiteracy and uplift the society for a better future. Through the mid-day meal programme it is aiming to counter two main issues- illiteracy and poverty.

Food is an integral part of education. A hungry stomach will not allow a child to study and perform well in school. It is the primary necessity that needs to be fulfilled in order to reap the benefits of education. The mid-day meal becomes a motivating factor for the children to come to school. It also works as an incentive for parents to send their children to school with the hope that the children will at least be able to have one wholesome and nutritious meal a day. Akshaya Patra provides freshly cooked nutritious meal to 1.3 million children across India everyday.

The Foundation follows a three item menu in each location. As each region has its own specific taste, Akshaya Patra prepares the meals in a way that it is both nutritious and palatable to each region. It is done so that each and every child enjoys the mid-day meal. Studies have shown that the mid-day meal has increased enrolment, improved attendance and performance of the students, and has helped in reducing drop-out rate. Apart from these benefits, it boosts the confidence of the children to dream big and achieve higher in life. The millions of dreams are a very strong motivating factor for Akshaya Patra to spread its wings to serve more and more children across the country. The Foundation achieved the milestone of serving one billion meals in 2012 (since its inception in 2000) and it aims to feed 5 million children by 2020.

End of every academic year sees a set of children moving on to pursue higher education and another set just beginning to hold the pencil. Be a part of this cause to fulfil the dreams of these children which begins by providing them with a wholesome meal. Akshaya Patra provides many opportunities to its supporters so that they can play an active role in the lives of the children and the cause. Join Akshaya Patra-

• As a Volunteer- https://www.akshayapatra.org/volunteer
• As a Donor- https://www.akshayapatra.org/onlinedonations
• For Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Initiative- https://www.akshayapatra.org/csr-opportunities

Every bit of your support has the potential to transform the lives of millions of children.

Akshaya Patra welcomes the The Child Tracking System (CTS) which is now being used by several government departments and is helping them take various health and education schemes to the children they are meant for more effectively.

For instance, the CTS is allowing the Department of Public Instruction keep a watch on dropouts and improve their social-economic conditions under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan scheme. The relevant information is fed into the system for online tracking and the complete database of dropouts brought back to school, is updated in every taluk with each student’s photograph, name and family history.

As many as 1,244 of the 1,763 dropouts identified in early 2012-13 have been brought back to school this way. The CTS is helping identify potential dropouts and counsel them on the importance of education.

Akshaya Patra through its midday meal programme is also helping in reducing the dropout rates.

Many parents find it difficult to arrange a square meal for their children. Their resource are too meagre to take care of the need of the entire family. If mother is working she has to leave the house early for having no time to prepare food.  Such circumstances   force them to take their children out of school to either work outside or do household chores.  In such cases Akshaya Patra’s mid day meal acts as a big support for them taking off the burden of arranging meal for the child and allowing their children to study with filled stomachs

Akshaya Patra through its mid day- meal programme is feeding 1.3 million children across 19 locations of 9 Indian states covering more than 9000 schools every day.  The hot nutritious meal served acts as an incentive for the parents to make their children stay in school or let them join school. A.C Nielson study shows that mid day meal has reduced dropout rate and increased attendance, enrolment t with better performance of the students.

Source: http://www.deccanchronicle.com/130227/news-current-affairs/article/track-child-check-dropouts