Sri Lanka has launched a nationwide program to provide free meals to all students from grade 1 to 5.

Minister of Education Susil Premajayantha stated that this  initiative aims to benefit over 1.6 million children across 9,134 government schools and smaller institutions with less than 100 students.

According to him, the program will run from 7:30 am to 8:00 am daily, ensuring all primary school students have access to a nutritious meal.

The government has allocated 16.6 billion rupees for this initiative, with additional support potentially coming from organisations like the World Food Programme (WFP) and the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA).

Minister Premajayantha also stated that recognizing rising food costs, the government has increased the meal budget per student from 85 rupees to 110 rupees.