How to increase transparency and improve the quality of meals at boarding schools?

The quality of school meals in many schools still has some shortcomings, especially in terms of food hygiene and safety. Many opinions say that parents cooperating with schools to monitor school meals will increase transparency and improve quality.

The alarm bell from the mass poisoning case due to the school lunch meal

Recently, after breakfast at Kim Thuy Primary Boarding School (Kim Ngan, Quang Tri), 40 students were suspected of food poisoning. Test results from the Nha Trang Pasteur Institute showed that one of the four food samples tested positive for Bacillus cereus bacteria, the agent that causes acute food poisoning. Or the incident that caused a stir when parents of Cu Khe Primary School (Binh Minh Commune, Hanoi ) discovered that the boarding kitchen had smelly meat and runny quail eggs. The incident was only discovered when parents proactively made a surprise inspection of the boarding kitchen. Ms. D. HB, a parent of a 2nd grader, worried: The quality of boarding meals may have been unsatisfactory for a long time. If there had not been a surprise inspection by parents, who knows what our children would have eaten? How could they be so cruel to young children? The quality of meals for children is not guaranteed to be hygienic, no one will feel secure sending their children to school. "Food can be replaced, but trust cannot," said Ms. B.

The recent mass food poisoning incidents at schools are just the "tip of the iceberg" regarding the quality of food hygiene in school meals. In reality, food quality control in schools has not been strictly implemented. This makes parents skeptical about the responsibility of authorities and schools in ensuring the quality of school meals for students. According to parents, ensuring the quality of school meals is not only the responsibility of the school but also the common task of the government, authorities and parents.

Boarding meals are always a major concern of parents and schools.

Ms. Nguyen My Linh (whose child studies at Nam Trung Yen Primary School, Hanoi) shared: "The organization of meals for students at my child's school involves the participation of parent representatives, and all information related to the students' meals is fully communicated to parents. This helps parents feel more secure and confident when feeding their children at school." However, observing with the naked eye, for parents without expertise, will not solve the root of the problem. Accordingly, this parent proposed: Authorities need to implement measures to closely inspect and monitor food supplies. At the same time, establish strict control procedures from the reception, processing to serving stages. In particular, food suppliers must fully comply with regulations on food hygiene and safety, ensuring that students' meals are safe and nutritious.

Invite parents to monitor the quality of meals at school

Regarding the issue of ensuring meals for students, Ms. Tran Thi Huong, Principal of Van Bao Primary School (Ha Dong, Hanoi) said: "Over the past 6 years, the school has created trust and transparency in school meals. Meal information is made public by the school, updated daily on zalo groups for parents and posted on the school's website. In addition, the origin of food, hygiene procedures, and sterilization of kitchen utensils before and after use are announced and opinions are sought in parent meetings. In particular, the school creates maximum conditions for parents to participate in monitoring school meals."

Parents can come at any time, participate in supervising every step from receiving and checking the quality of input food to supervising the processing process and can eat with their children at school. However, when participating in supervising meals, parents must comply with certain rules such as: wearing protective clothing, wearing slippers specifically for the kitchen, disinfecting hands and feet before entering the school kitchen area, not bringing any items into the kitchen to ensure hygiene and safety. According to Ms. Tran Thi Huong, publicizing and allowing parents to participate in supervising boarding meals for students helps them feel more secure, because their children study and eat directly at school, so parents have the right and should participate in supervising, checking and evaluating the quality of meals. Schools should let parents participate in supervising boarding meals.

Sharing the same view, Ms. Ngo Thi Thuy Lieu, Principal of Phu Cat Primary School, Hue City, said: "Every day, the school strictly checks the quality of input food and processes it according to the correct process; arranges medical staff to monitor the quality of boarding meals. Because boarding is an issue related to students' meals, parents need to have the right to know information and the right to participate in the process of choosing a meal provider. That is what schools must do."

According to the Principal of Phu Cat Primary School, for many years now, the organization of school meals at the school has always had the participation of parents' representatives. Parents directly participate in supervising the organization of school meals. In the morning, parents receive food inputs with the school's board of directors and teachers' representatives to ensure the quality of food for their children's meals. For parents, being directly present in the kitchen, checking the origin of the food and supervising the processing process, helps them have much more confidence than commitments or promises from the school or food suppliers. Their children are the ones who directly use the meals at school, so they must be responsible and their worries are understandable. "Instead of being suspicious, parents can accompany the school to build safe boarding meals," said the principal.

In the 2025-2026 school year, about 768,000 public and private primary school students in Hanoi will be supported with boarding meals. Accordingly, students studying at educational institutions in mountainous areas and communes in the middle of the Red River will be supported with VND 30,000/student/day; Primary school students studying at educational institutions in the remaining areas will be supported with VND 20,000/student/day.

In case parents and school agree on a higher meal fee than the state subsidy, the difference will be collected from the student (ensuring a minimum meal fee of 30,000 VND/student/day).

The support applies to primary school students studying at educational institutions in Hanoi who voluntarily use boarding services (excluding educational institutions with foreign investment).

According to calculations, the estimated budget to support boarding meals for 100% of primary school students in the 2025-2026 school year is more than 3,000 billion VND (public 2,824 billion VND; private 239 billion VND).

Source: https://phunuvietnam.vn/lam-sao-de-tang-minh-bach-cai-thien-chat-luong-bua-an-ban-tru-20251120154348424.htm