No revision of school meal suppliers rates

Despite complaints from school meal suppliers over rising costs of food items, fuel, and cooking gas, the Education Ministry stated that there is no possibility of revising the meal payment rates at present, as the rates have been fixed for a one-year period under the relevant tender system.

Speaking to The Daily Morning yesterday (21), Ministry Secretary Nalaka Kaluwewa said that the Ministry has not received any official request from those providing school meals seeking an increase in the payment rates. “We have not received any request from those who provide school meals. I also saw these claims in the media, they have not informed us officially the rates are not enough,” he said.

He further said the rates are determined based on data provided by the Census and Statistics Department and remain valid for one year once approved. “The Department provides us with statistics, and we decide on these rates based on that. These rates are valid for one year, and we cannot revise them from time to time. This is done through a tender procedure."

He also noted that price fluctuations are taken into account when determining the rates, pointing out that the cost of certain items do not always remain high. “Sometimes, prices go down too. It is considering all that can happen that these rates have been decided. For instance, egg prices went up some time ago, but now, they have come down. Even today, the prices of rice and vegetables have not gone up that severely,” he added.

Suppliers attached to the school mid-day meal programme have recently raised concerns over the rising cost of essential goods, cooking gas, and fuel, saying that the existing payment is no longer sufficient to meet expenses.

In September of last year (2025), the Ministry doubled the allocation for the programme to expand it to 100 education zones across all Provinces. The World Food Programme’s Home Grown School Feeding project also supports some suppliers, complementing the national initiative. The school mid-day meal programme currently aims to provide meals to about 1.6 million students across nearly 7,000 schools nationwide.

Source - The Morning