Chennai: The state has asked headmasters at govt, aided, and corporation schools to mount name boards and stock enough utensils before Sept 17, when the state will begin serving breakfast to students in Classes VI through VIII under the Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme.District and chief education officers must install the name boards — steel-framed panels measuring 4ft by 2ft — and coordinate with municipalities, corporations or block development offices to deliver kitchen equipment, lighting and cooking gas connections by Sept. 16.“Instructions have been given to school heads to use funds from the school management committee for installing the name board. No headmaster needs to spend out of pocket for the boards or any other purpose. For utensils, tumblers and maintenance of the kitchen, the local body has been extending assistance,” Chennai chief education officer (CEO) M Kabir said.A section of school heads said they have also been asked to spend from the annual maintenance grant, which ranges from ₹50,000 to ₹1 lakh based on the school strength, on name boards if needed. “At the maximum, the flex will cost around ₹600. There is no need to spend on any lighting or installing posters of politicians as the govt has specifically asked us not to,” a headmaster said.CEOs have also been instructed to visit schools in their respective districts beforehand. “We will inspect the progress, ensure that all specifications have been adhered to, and send a report to the directorate of school education along with photo evidence,” Kabir added.In July this year, the TVK govt renamed the Chief Minister’s Breakfast Scheme launched by former chief minister M K Stalin in 2022 for Classes I-V to Perunthalaivar Kamarajar Breakfast Scheme. The govt announced that it would be extended to Classes VI-VIII students from Sept 17. As many as 15.14 lakh students in Classes VI-VIII from 15,454 schools will benefit from the extension of the scheme. In Chennai, the scheme will cover 589 schools.
