Over 52,000 students aged between 9-14 years in 200 government-run schools have been positively impacted by the Nourishing Schools Toolkit, an initiative run by Nourishing Schools Foundation, a non-governmental organization committed to empowering children through nutrition education. These schools, spread across districts such as Sikar, Jhunjhunu, Jaipur, Bikaner, and Banswara have reported substantial improvement in nutrition education, academic performance, and awareness around sanitation and hygiene.
Collaborating with the Government of Rajasthan and esteemed local NGOs such as URMUL Trust, Vaagdhara, and Shikshit Rojgar Kendra Prabandhak Samiti, the implementation of the Nourishing Schools Toolkit aims at addressing real-world nutrition and hygiene challenges, ensuring a broad and sustainable impact in the region.
The Foundation’s Nourishing Schools Toolkit integrates interactive learning experiences for students, targeting early adolescents – from 4th grade to 9th grade. From a baseline survey conducted at every school during the commencement of the program, to a midline survey – conducted within a year to measure progress – the Nourishing Schools Toolkit ensures that the implementation of the initiative caters to the unique challenges of each school, whilst simultaneously emphasising on the fundamentals of nutrition education and hygiene.
The latest survey has revealed significant improvements observed across various metrics. These surveys have indicated a significant decrease in undernourishment rates among schoolchildren, alongside improvements in hygiene practices and academic performance across subjects like Science, Mathematics, Hindi, and English. In Sikar district alone, a midline survey of 20 schools revealed that 92% of children reported increasing their consumption of fruits and vegetables, while 50% reported an increase in the consumption of local herbs and greens.
Highlighting the impact of the programme so far, Archana Sinha, CEO and Co-Founder of Nourishing Schools Foundation, noted, “We saw that behaviour change interventions have high potential in districts in Rajasthan. For example, in our midline survey of 45 schools across four districts – Banswara, Bikaner, Chittorgarh, and Udaipur, the percentage of students washing their hands with soap after using the toilet increased from 8% to 37% within just one cycle of using our toolkit. Through this collaborative initiative, our goal is not only to improve nutritional practices but also to empower students to take charge of their health and academic journey.”
Lauding on the progress of the program, Shri Sunil Boda, District Education Officer, Bikaner District Education Officer, Bikaner, said, “The implementation of the Nourishing Schools Toolkit in schools across Bikaner, a rather rural district, has made tremendous strides in the health and wellbeing of our students. We have witnessed a substantial difference in their dietary patterns, along with their attitude with healthy foods. In combining nutrition with education, the Nourishing Schools Toolkit has paved the way towards successfully executing nutrition education, while ensuring that the subject/concepts are fundamentally imbibed into the younger generation’s minds.”
Looking ahead, Nourishing Schools Foundation plans to expand its reach across Rajasthan, in the coming year/months, and disseminate the upgraded Nourishing Schools Toolkit in 20 schools in Bikaner and 12 schools in Banswara, Rajasthan. The toolkit has been upgraded based on the feedback from the parents, teachers, and the community.