He gave the instructions at a meeting organized by the Prime Minister's Education Assistance Trust at the Cabinet Division meeting room of the Bangladesh Secretariat on Monday afternoon. The Prime Minister's Deputy Press Secretary Shahadat Swadhin confirmed this information. He said that the meeting emphasized on preparing a clear proposal by reviewing the estimated cost, number of beneficiaries, implementation strategy and its possible social and educational outcomes if the universal stipend is reintroduced. The Deputy Press Secretary further said that the Prime Minister was briefed in detail about the ongoing activities of the Trust, its goals and objectives, and the role of the Trust in retaining students in their educational life and preventing dropouts through financial assistance. In addition, the meeting also discussed the issue of providing stipends based on merit and ability to encourage boys to study. The impact and success of the universal stipend program for girls launched during the tenure of former Prime Minister Late Begum Khaleda Zia was also reviewed in the meeting. The Prime Minister's Deputy Press Secretary said that issues such as increasing school attendance of girls, their continuation of education and the positive role of universal stipend in preventing child marriage came to the fore. The meeting gave equal importance to improving the quality of education along with ensuring the nutrition and health of students. Various issues such as management of mid-day meal programme at the school level, nutritional value of food and ensuring safe preparation and distribution of food for children were discussed in detail. The Prime Minister stressed that the food provided to the students should be nutritious, safe and of good quality and there should be no compromise on the quality of food. Shahadat Swadhin said that the meeting also discussed two alternative methods of implementing the mid-day meal programme, considering the issues of cost, management capacity, local level involvement and food quality control. The Prime Minister directed to launch one pilot project of each method in two different districts to verify the effectiveness, feasibility and possible results of both the methods. Education Minister ANM Ehsanul Haque Milon, Prime Minister's Education Advisor and Spokesperson Mahdi Amin, Education Secretary Abdul Khalek, Prime Minister's Additional Press Secretary Atiqur Rahman Rumon and other concerned officials were present at the meeting.