The government is likely to reintroduce mid-day meals at primary schools in 150 upazilas after a gap of two years with the view to ramping up school attendance and bringing down the dropout rate.

School feeding programmes act as a powerful incentive for families to enrol their children in school and keep them there, directly influencing educational outcomes and gender equality.

The government is planning to introduce the school feeding programme for students of all state-run primary schools in July with the hope that it will help increase attendance and reduce dropouts.