Taking care of meals for ethnic minority children

Ba Che Town Kindergarten (Ba Che District) always attaches importance to food safety and hygiene, improves meal quality, and diversifies children's diets. Photo: Lan Anh

In Ba Che district, one of the localities with a high proportion of ethnic minorities in the province, the organization of boarding for students has received special attention. A typical example is at Nam Son Primary and Secondary School (Nam Son commune, Ba Che district) - a highland school with over 90% of students being ethnic minorities, many of whom have extremely difficult family circumstances. With the characteristics of a large area, the village is far from the main school, some points are more than 20km away, organizing boarding not only helps students to study conveniently but also ensures the life and nutrition for students.

Thanks to the attention of the Party, the State and the local government, the school's boarding students are supported with food expenses equal to 40% of the basic salary, are exempted from tuition fees and supported with study costs according to regulations. Along with that, the facilities serving the boarding activities are also invested in spaciously: private rooms, clean dining room and kitchen, with catering staff responsible for taking care of the children's daily meals.

Not stopping there, the school also actively socializes, mobilizing benefactors inside and outside the district to support food, helping to improve the quality of meals for students. Meals with adequate nutrition and ensuring food hygiene and safety have contributed practically to improving the physical strength and health of ethnic minority students - the core goal of Project 7.

To teach life skills and improve nutrition for students, the school also organizes a model of growing vegetables, fruit trees, and raising poultry right on campus. Students are directly involved in labor, which not only supplements food sources for meals but also trains independence, environmental awareness, and understanding the value of honest labor.

Green vegetable garden serving meals at Nam Son Primary and Secondary School (Ba Che district)

The efforts in organizing boarding at Nam Son Primary and Secondary School have brought positive results. The rate of boarding students is increasing, at the main school, the primary level is over 90%, the secondary level is over 75%, and in remote villages such as Lang Moi, the rate is almost absolute. This not only helps maintain the number of students but also reduces the dropout rate, creating a stable and friendly learning environment for students in the highlands.

On a province-wide scale, implementing Project 7, Quang Ninh has been investing heavily in school nutrition. With Resolution No. 22 dated October 31, 2023 of the Provincial People's Council, boarding students are supported with 720,000 VND/month for meals, helping to reduce the financial burden for families with many children. The province also spends more than 31.3 billion VND each year to support meals and funding for organizing boarding meals for students in difficult areas, contributing practically to improving the quality of education in ethnic minority areas.

In particular, implementing the Project "Propaganda and mobilization to improve nutrition and physical strength for children in highland, ethnic minority and mountainous areas of Quang Ninh province, period 2022-2025", the province has set a target of reducing the rate of underweight children under 5 years old to below 11% and stunted children to below 17% by 2025.

To realize this goal, preschools and general education facilities in disadvantaged areas are constantly improving the quality of meals, diversifying rations, strengthening nutrition education, and mobilizing social resources to improve meals for students. Nutrition communication activities, connecting with philanthropists, and mobilizing parents to send their children to school regularly are also implemented synchronously.

Caring for and providing boarding meals not only ensures the physical health of ethnic minority children but is also an important solution to narrow the educational gap between mountainous and lowland areas, gradually realizing the sustainable development goals of Quang Ninh province in the new period.

Hoai Minh

Source: https://baoquangninh.vn/cham-lo-bua-an-ban-tru-cho-tre-em-dan-toc-thieu-so-3355848.html