IMPACT OF MID –DAY MEALS PROGRAMME ON STUDENT’S ENROLMENT AND DROPOUT AT PRIMARY STAGE IN HIMACHAL –PRADESH

The study was conducted to find out the impact of mid-day meals programme on student's enrolment and dropout at primary stage in Himachal Pradesh. Therefore, ‘Descriptive Method of Research' was used for conducting the present study. And to obtain data for the present study, the procedure of multi-stage sampling was followed. At the first stage , three districts viz. Kangra, Chamba, and Mandi district out of the twelve districts of Himachal Pradesh were selected on the basis of their literacy rates i.e. Kangra amongst the highest literacy rates, Chamba amongst the lowest and Mandi district lies in the middle among the twelve districts of the state. At the second stage , 188 government primary schools were selected for studying student's enrolment and drop-out (from year 2001 to year 2011). The data collected through school Information schedule for student's enrolment and drop-out was tabulated separately for each year from 2001 onwards. The information collected through school information schedule was put to percentage analysis to give meaning to the data. It was interpreted that mid-day meals programme has not significantly influenced the student's enrolment and drop-out at primary stage in Himachal Pradesh.