Quail eggs found smelling in the boarding school kitchen: Nearly 200 students absent from school, local authorities seek solutions

After discovering unsafe food in the canteen of Cu Khe Primary School, nearly 200 students were absent from school on October 20. The local authorities are coming up with a solution to provide meals again.

Image of a classroom at Cu Khe Primary School on the morning of October 20 after a food safety incident at the boarding kitchen - Photo: Provided by parents

On the afternoon of October 20, according to a report from Cu Khe Primary School (Binh Minh Commune, Hanoi ), the total number of students attending school during the day reached 1,335/1,518 students, equivalent to 88%.

Of these, 182 students were absent with permission (11.9%) mainly due to health reasons, difficulty in picking up and dropping off, or parents not having time to prepare lunch for their children. Only 1 student was absent without permission.

During the day, 497 students (37%) brought lunch and stayed at school at noon; the remaining 838 students (63%) finished school and left at 10:30.

According to the school board, they have urgently implemented the procedures for selecting new meal suppliers, developing a bidding plan, sending invitation letters and receiving applications from registered units.

Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online the same day, Mr. Nguyen Dang Viet, Chairman of the People's Committee of Binh Minh Commune, said that regarding the issues regarding the boarding meals at Cu Khe Primary School, the commune has outlined three directions to handle the matter.

The first option is that the commune will direct the speeding up of the process to appoint a new unit to cook the school's meals. Regarding this option, Mr. Viet said that it is necessary to ensure the provisions of the law, follow the legal procedures, and not be too fast and not follow the regulations.

"If we want to shorten the selection of a new cooking unit as soon as possible, we must have the consent of the students' parents. If the parents agree, the school will be responsible for implementing it," said Mr. Viet.

Option two, Binh Minh Commune People's Committee will issue a document directing schools near Cu Khe school to cook more daily meals to support the school.

Finally, the commune is also directing relevant units to go to Cu Khe Primary School to study the "home-cooking" method.

"It means that when parents agree, they will cook like in kindergartens, cooking on-site. When parents agree, the commune will check the food and drinks to cook on-site and provide them to the children.

At the same time, we also directed on-site repair of unsafe cooking equipment at schools as pointed out by the City Food Safety Department. With the three options above, whichever option the parents agree on, the commune will implement accordingly," Mr. Viet added.

The school announced that it will prepare meals for boarding students from October 21 - Photo: Provided by parents

Speaking to Tuoi Tre Online on the afternoon of October 20, Ms. N. - a parent whose child is studying at the school - said she received a message from the homeroom teacher about registering for a boarding meal for her child tomorrow.

However, she wondered how these meals would be prepared and whether they would be safe.

"We hope the school will have a public meeting to clarify the responsibilities of the boarding kitchen and the school, as well as a specific plan to fix the problem," Ms. N. shared.

As reported by Tuoi Tre Online , the incident began on the morning of October 15, when representatives of the parents' committee of Cu Khe Primary School, Binh Minh Commune, Hanoi suddenly inspected the kitchen where Nhat Anh Import-Export Trading and Service Company Limited provided food.

At the time of inspection, parents discovered that the meat smelled rancid and a series of large bags of pre-boiled quail eggs smelled foul and were leaking. The food was not refrigerated and was transported in a non-specialized truck.

These images quickly spread on social networks, causing anxiety and outrage in the community.

Immediately after the inspection, the monitoring team requested to replace quail eggs with chicken eggs to cook for students, and at the same time made a record with the witness of relevant parties.

After the incident, Cu Khe Primary School terminated its contract with Nhat Anh Company from October 17.

Ms. Nguyen Thi Nam, the school's principal, sent a letter of apology to all parents and proposed two temporary solutions: Parents prepare their own lunch for their children to bring to school or parents pick up their children to have lunch, rest at home, and then bring them back to school in the afternoon.

However, according to many parents, both options cause a lot of inconvenience, especially for families who work all day. Therefore, many families have been forced to let their children stay home from school.

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Source: https://tuoitre.vn/vu-bep-an-ban-tru-phat-hien-trung-cut-boc-mui-gan-200-hoc-sinh-nghi-hoc-dia-phuong-tim-phuong-an-20251020173118673.htm