Guardian committee prevents poor-quality eggs distribution at Meherpur

The vigilance of a school guardian committee has prevented pupils at a government primary school in Meherpur from being served poor-quality eggs under Bangladesh’s school feeding programme, leading to an immediate investigation ordered by State Minister for Primary and Mass Education Bobby Hajjaj.

The incident occurred at Banshbariya Government Primary School in Gangni upazila after concerns were raised over the quality of food supplied through the government-funded meal programme.

Following instructions from the state minister, the Upazila Education Office carried out an on-site inspection to verify the allegations.

The investigation found that 20 of the 133 eggs delivered to the school on 1 July were not fit to the required quality standard. Before the eggs could be distributed to pupils, members of the school’s guardian committee identified the issue and alerted the supplier, Sushilan.

According to the inquiry, the supplier responded quickly by replacing all of the defective eggs with fresh ones within an hour. As a result, only eggs meeting the required standard were served to the children.

Inspectors also examined the bread supplied under the same feeding programme and found it met the expected quality requirements.

Commenting on the incident, State Minister Bobby Hajjaj said, “the government would not tolerate any compromise involving the health and safety of primary school children.”

He also said, “a zero-tolerance approach was being enforced to maintain food quality across the school feeding programme,” adding that suppliers and local officials must carry out their responsibilities with greater care to prevent similar incidents in the future.

The minister also highlighted the importance of community oversight, saying guardian committees had been established to give parents a direct role in monitoring both student welfare and the quality of meals provided in schools.

He added, “the events at Banshbariya Government Primary School demonstrated the value of the initiative, as the committee’s timely action ensured the defective eggs were detected before reaching pupils, removing any potential health risk.”

Bobby Hajjaj further added that continued participation by guardian committees would help strengthen transparency, accountability and quality assurance throughout the national school feeding programme.

The Ministry of Primary and Mass Education introduced five-member guardian committees, made up of mothers, at government primary schools across the country on 18 May following the state minister’s directive. The committees are responsible for overseeing school feeding activities and supporting the overall wellbeing of pupils.