Hanoi studies free lunch for students

The above information was shared by delegate Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, Chairman of the Hanoi People's Council, at a recent discussion session of the 15th National Assembly on the draft resolution on tuition exemption and reduction for preschool children, high school students, and students of generaleducation programs at educational institutions in the national education system.

Mr. Tuan said that in addition to tuition exemption policies, at the end of April, General Secretary To Lam assigned the city to continue researching a policy to support lunch money for students. The city People's Committee is researching and reporting to the City Party Committee and People's Council to implement the above-mentioned humane and practical policy.

Hanoi is also very responsible in implementing policies on education and training. Not only implementing in its own area, Hanoi also supports other provinces and cities in building schools and repairing facilities that are still in difficulty.

Delegate Nguyen Ngoc Tuan, Chairman of Hanoi People's Council.

Regarding tuition exemption, the Chairman of the City People's Council emphasized: "Education is the top national policy. If we do well in exempting tuition fees and universalizing education for children aged 3-5, it will have great significance in ensuring political security and social order and safety."

In recent times, Hanoi has devoted a lot of resources to infrastructure in the field of education and training. Specifically, in the last term, it invested 49,200 billion VND, and in the current term, 41,000 billion VND for the implementation of projects on historical relics, medical facilities, especially the construction of public schools and educational facilities.

If including districts, the city has spent nearly 100,000 billion VND on education and training in the past two consecutive years.

Even during the COVID-19 pandemic, Hanoi spent more than 1,000 billion VND to exempt tuition fees for the poor, near-poor, and disadvantaged.

To date, the City People's Council has issued contents related to tuition exemption and reduction for some groups of students with a total amount of about 800 billion VND. If implemented according to the new Resolution, it is estimated that Hanoi city will need about 1,800 billion VND.

“This tuition support policy is not only applicable to public schools but also to private and non-public schools, aiming to pay directly to students is appropriate. Hanoi City will also study and implement this content soon,” said the delegate.

Mr. Nguyen Xuan Khang, Chairman of the Marie Curie School Board, commented that free lunch for students is a policy that is “in line with the people’s wishes and the trend of modern education development”. If implemented effectively, the policy will not only improve student nutrition but also contribute to changing the culture of education – considering students as the center, prioritizing the comprehensive development of children.

“Many developed countries have adopted a school meal policy as part of their education welfare system. This policy should be implemented in a rolling manner: prioritizing primary school students and disadvantaged areas first, then gradually expanding. Investing in meals is investing in people and the future,” said Dr. Le Viet Khuyen, Vietnam Association for Promoting Education.

According to Associate Professor Dr. Tran Xuan Nhi, former Deputy Minister of Education and Training, to implement this policy nationwide, Vietnam needs to take steps that are appropriate to its socio-economic conditions. It is necessary to implement many synchronous solutions such as fighting waste and negativity, thereby having "more than enough" to take care of meals, tuition fees, and the quality of students will also be improved.

Ha Cuong

Source: https://vtcnews.vn/ha-noi-nghien-cuu-mien-phi-an-trua-cho-hoc-sinh-ar944637.html