Jorhat (Assam), Jul 30 (PTI) The Assam government will collaborate with the Akshaya Patra Foundation for the construction of nine centralised kitchens in the state to ensure nutritious meals for the students, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said.
The state government will lend financial assistance to a similar kitchen coming up under the Foundation in Majuli, the chief minister said.
Inaugurating the Akshaya Patra Foundation’s 65th centralised kitchen in the state here on Friday, Sarma lauded the work being done by the organisation in providing nutritious meals to lakhs of students.
Built at Rs 14 crore, the kitchen can serve mid-day meals to 12,000 students from 157 schools at the initial stage. Subsequently, nearly 30,000 students will be benefitted from it.
He said the state government will give Rs 14 crore to the Foundation for the construction of a kitchen in Majuli.
The chief minister also announced that the Education department will enter into an understanding with the Foundation for constructing nine such kitchens in nine places in the state.
Around 10 lakh students across the state will be brought under the nutritious mid-day meal service of the Foundation in the near future, he added.
The chief minister also dwelt on the initiatives taken by the state government to strengthen the education sector.
To help the students of Assam to perform better in the medical and engineering entrance tests, it has been decided to use English as the medium of instruction to teach Mathematics and Science from class 3 in all government schools, Sarma said.
The subject Social Studies will be taught separately as Geography and History for a more detailed understanding of the topics, he added.
He also said that after studying the feasibility of infrastructure, steps will be taken to introduce English as the medium of instruction along with the existing Assamese and vernacular languages in government schools.