Do not distort the humane policy on boarding meals

The policy of supporting boarding meals for students in both Hanoi and disadvantaged areas is considered by insiders to be particularly humane. However, the exemption policy is only truly complete when the implementation is transparent, without lax management and supervision.

Hanoi parents are happy but still… worried

On October 15, representatives of parents of Cu Khe Primary School, Binh Minh Commune (Hanoi) discovered that meat and many bags of peeled quail eggs brought to the school to prepare lunch for students were smelly and watery. Not accepting poor quality food, the parents recorded a video , reacted strongly and resolutely, demanding that the food supplier change to another type, and at the same time reported the incident to the school and management agency.

Immediately afterwards, the Department of Culture and Society of Binh Minh commune had a meeting with parents, the school and the kitchen food supplier, requesting a change of food supplier.

The representative of the parents of this school said that during the monitoring, the parents not only discovered that the food had an odor but also that the processing equipment was not clean, posing a risk of food safety and hygiene. It is unacceptable that the food supplier delivered substandard goods to the school. If the parents had not checked and detected, the above-mentioned smelly food could have been smuggled into the kitchen. Therefore, the parents requested that the management agency have a plan to strictly handle violations to ensure food safety for students.

In the 2025-2026 school year, for the first time, Hanoi will implement a policy to support boarding meals for primary school students. According to Resolution 18/2025/NQ-HDND of the Hanoi People's Council, primary school students in mountainous communes and disadvantaged areas will be supported with 30,000 VND/day, while the remaining areas will be supported with 20,000 VND/day. If the meal portion is higher, the difference will be paid by parents, but still ensuring a minimum level to maintain nutritional quality. More than 3,000 billion VND has been invested in a humane policy with the expectation of improving the physical fitness and learning quality of more than 700,000 students.

Students in a spacious kitchen with nutritious meals at Thanh Cong Ethnic Boarding Secondary School (Thanh Cong commune, Cao Bang)

PHOTO: TUAN MINH

A representative of the People's Committee of Ung Thien commune said that in addition to the budget support, the commune government also proactively allocated more than 300 million VND to upgrade facilities and purchase equipment for boarding activities in the 2025-2026 school year. At Hoa Son Primary School (Ung Thien commune), the number of students registered for boarding has increased from 298 to 348 compared to the previous year. Ms. Truong Thanh Ha, Principal of the school, shared: "The children not only get enough nutritious food, but also practice a scientific lifestyle, avoiding the habit of using electronic devices during breaks. The policy of supporting boarding meals is a humane and practical policy."

Not only in suburban communes, at Phan Dinh Giot Primary School (Thanh Xuan Ward), Principal Nguyen Thi Kim Ngoc said that although it is located in the inner city, for many years there have been parents who have been late in paying for their children's meals for up to half a year, or even a whole year. Therefore, according to Ms. Ngoc, the support policy of 20,000 VND/meal has significantly reduced the burden on parents and schools. The support level of 400,000 VND/month (equivalent to 3.6 million VND/year) is a meaningful number, especially for poor families, helping them reduce lunch expenses to invest in their children's foreign language studies, sports, arts or talent development...

Parents said they were happy to receive the meal support policy, but what they were most concerned about was the quality. Just because it was free or the contribution was reduced, they did not have to accept that the school would feed their children whatever they wanted, without the right to monitor and speak up like before. Transparency and increased monitoring are very important.

The Government's policy of supporting boarding meals is especially important in retaining students in disadvantaged areas.

Photo: Tuan Minh

In the context of a lack of professional staff at the commune level, many places believe that ensuring food safety in schools is still difficult.

Regarding the policy of supporting boarding meals, at the beginning of this school year, Mr. Nguyen Van Phong, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee, emphasized: "Absolutely do not loosen management, do not let schools act arbitrarily, do not let negativity and group interests cause a humane policy to be distorted. I hope that you will take care of your students the same way you take care of your children's food and sleep."

Absolutely do not loosen management, do not let schools act arbitrarily, do not let negativity or group interests cause a humane policy to be distorted.

Mr. Nguyen Van Phong, Standing Deputy Secretary of the Hanoi Party Committee

BOARDING MEALS HELPS KEEP STUDENTS IN HIGHLANDS

Mr. Bui Van Thu, former Head of the Department of Education and Training of Meo Vac District, Ha Giang Province (old), now Chairman of the People's Committee of Sung Mang Commune (Tuyen Quang Province), shared: For many years, the Government's policy of supporting boarding meals has been especially important in retaining students in difficult places like Meo Vac (old). With the policy of arranging the school network to ensure uniform education quality, students from grade 3 in all remote schools in the village will go to the main school to study subjects such as English, IT, etc. If there is no policy of supporting meals that families have to contribute, many families will certainly not be able to afford to send their children to school. The task of mobilizing students to go to school will be very difficult.

At Thanh Cong Ethnic Boarding School - Secondary School (Cao Bang), there are 214 students, of which 10 are disabled; 4 are orphans; 150 are from poor households, 53 are from near-poor households, and 213 are registered residents in communes with especially difficult conditions. Therefore, organizing free meals at school is one of the especially important tasks to motivate students to go to school.

Similarly, in Mu Cang Chai (Lao Cai), a primary school teacher at Khao Mang Primary Boarding School for Ethnic Minorities said that thanks to the policy of supporting all accommodation and meals for students studying at boarding schools, the students not only enjoy going to school but also develop physically a lot thanks to being fed with enough nutrients, something that very few of them have at home. According to this teacher, this can be clearly felt after 3 months of summer vacation, after many days of eating frugally at home, when returning to the school's boarding meals on the first days of the new school year, every student eagerly waits for the meal and eats a lot. Many students said that during the summer vacation, they just want to go to school early because they can eat better and more than at home.

One of the important policies to improve the quality of education in remote areas is to organize free accommodation for students at school.

Photo: Tuan Minh

Remote areas are also reorganizing schools and school sites to improve the quality of education. One of the important policies to do this is to provide free accommodation for students at school.

Recently, there have been a number of cases where leaders of ethnic minority boarding schools have been criminally prosecuted because, in the process of implementing the State's humane policy on taking care of meals for students in disadvantaged areas, they have reduced the children's food portions. Therefore, it is very necessary to assign responsibilities, strengthen management, conduct periodic and surprise inspections to promptly detect and handle violations in organizing meals for students.

Policy for meals for disadvantaged students is getting better and better.

In Directive 26/CT-TTg issued on September 15 on strengthening conditions to ensure quality and improve the effectiveness of tasks for the 2025-2026 school year, the Prime Minister requested the implementation of the policy of exempting tuition fees and supporting lunch for students, ensuring that all beneficiaries have timely access.

Decree 66/2025/ND-CP regulating support for kindergarten children and students in ethnic minority, mountainous, coastal and beach areas is considered by schools in the area as a step forward in ensuring the rights of students in disadvantaged areas, while bringing many positive changes to both students and schools. Specifically, the level of food support for boarding students is set at 936,000 VND/month for a maximum of 9 months/school year instead of the support level calculated at 40% of the basic salary as before; support

15 kg of rice/month for a maximum of 9 months/school year; expand many support policies for ethnic minority boarding schools, creating conditions for investment in facilities, teaching and living equipment.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/khong-lam-meo-mo-chinh-sach-nhan-van-ve-bua-an-ban-tru-185251016222829434.htm