A warm breakfast, stronger start

Metro India News | Hyderabad 

A breakfast program serving government schools around Kodangal is reaching almost every student surveyed, with parents and teachers also reporting encouraging signs on attendance and hunger. The findings come with a practical message: keeping meals appealing and consistent will matter as much as getting them to school on time.

Third Vision Research & Services assessed the school program through responses from 1,153 students, 575 parents and 176 teachers and headmasters. The program is supported by the Hare Krishna Mission Charitable Foundation and operates through a centralized kitchen that prepares hot breakfasts and supplies milk to schools. The student sample covered Classes 2 to 10 and ages five to 17; 53.4% of respondents were girls.

Almost all surveyed students said they ate the breakfast served at school: 99.9%, or 1,152 of 1,153 respondents. Among parents, 92.9% said their child’s attendance had increased. Teachers offered a similar picture: 89.2% reported an attendance increase, while 98.3% said they had seen fewer hunger complaints.  Acceptance of the food was also high. Some 95.7% of parents rated the breakfast good or very good. Students gave good-or-better ratings to taste (91.3%), food quality (92.7%), cleanliness (92.3%) and freshness (95.9%).

The survey also identifies practical operational issues. Quality represented 43.6% of teacher mentions of areas needing attention; quantity accounted for 9.6%. Other mentions included plates, serving areas and storage. A smaller share cited staff shortages (6.5%), storage facilities (5.0%) and distribution delays (2.2%). These details point to improvements that can be tracked school by school, rather than treated as a single kitchen-level problem.

The findings describe a program with broad reach and support, alongside clear areas to refine. Regular monitoring of meals served, leftovers, complaints, punctuality and school attendance—paired with repeat health measurements—would help determine whether the positive signals persist and how they vary between schools.