Publicly providing daily boarding meals: Healthy for schools, parents and students

In Da Nang, for many years schools have publicized boarding meals in many different ways.

Parents join in serving food at the beginning of the day at the boarding kitchen of Tuoi Hoa Kindergarten, Da Nang - Photo: MT

In addition to sending weekly menus to parents and taking photos of daily meals on the group, parents are also invited by the school to visit the boarding kitchen at any time.

The need to know what your child eats at school every day is a very legitimate need, and the school is very accommodating.

Ms. Bui Thi Thanh Tuyen (Principal of Nguyen Van Troi Primary School, Lien Chieu District, Da Nang)

Open for parents

One day in the middle of the week, Ms. Le Thi Thi (head of the parents' representative board of Tuoi Hoa Kindergarten, Thanh Khe district) suddenly called to report and then went to the school with a number of other parents to participate in receiving food and inspecting the boarding kitchen.

Immediately, the board of directors agreed and arranged for a guide to guide parents on a one-way tour of the kitchen and the process of organizing meals for boarding students. Ms. Thi and the catering staff were able to check the food at the beginning of the day in the one-way kitchen, checking the quality, freshness, and weighing of meat, fish, and vegetables. The group of parents also "checked" the expiration dates of dry foods without hesitation. Because this is something that the school welcomes.

Ms. Thi said: "I was also invited to watch the whole cooking process, when the food reached the children's table to know if the amount of food purchased was enough to ensure a sufficient meal or not. The school's openness like this also makes parents feel very secure. Before joining the representative board, I could also stop by to make a surprise inspection at any time."

Ms. Ta My Tran, principal of Tuoi Hoa Kindergarten, said that parents are invited to supervise the boarding kitchen at any time and at all stages. However, the supervision must ensure compliance with protection, and someone must accompany them to avoid negligence affecting the kitchen, food hygiene and safety...

"This is the school's responsibility. The Department of Education and Training also regularly reminds schools to publicize the menu and meals for boarding students. Previously, many people were hesitant, but I invited them enthusiastically, not perfunctorily, so parents felt comfortable coming to see the kitchen," said Ms. Tran.

In addition to inviting parents to come unexpectedly, many schools choose to take photos of the meals and send them to the parent chat group every day. Ms. Nguyen Thi Tra My (a parent whose child attends Ly Tu Trong Primary School, Hai Chau District) said: "At school, the teacher who teaches my child will also be the boarding teacher. Even though she has a lot of work, she still takes some time to take a photo of the children eating lunch and send it to the class group. Seeing this, parents feel very secure. The more open they are, the less worried and scrutinized I am."

"Why be afraid to make public the lunch"

Ms. Huynh Thi Thu Nguyet, principal of Le Dinh Chinh Primary School (Hai Chau District), said there are many ways to publicize boarding students' meals.

For the past 10 years, she has been regularly sending weekly menus to teachers in the parent chat group; sometimes the teachers also take pictures of students eating and send them to parents very freely. But they cannot take pictures every day because they have a lot of work.

"The school also invites parents to visit the kitchen, eat with their children, and do not need to notify in advance. If we do it right, there is nothing to worry about. On the contrary, parents also play a role with the school in monitoring the quality of the meals," said Ms. Nguyet.

Ms. Bui Thi Thanh Tuyen, principal of Nguyen Van Troi Primary School (Lien Chieu District), said that due to the limited facilities, narrow cafeteria, and students eating in class with stainless steel bowls, the school was reluctant to take pictures of the daily meals and send them to the group. Because parents could not imagine the amount of food in the bowl as in the tray.

Instead, the weekly menu is placed right at the entrance for parents to easily observe when dropping off and picking up their children to check against their children’s statements. Parents can also come by any time they want, accompanied by a school office staff member to inspect the kitchen.

"Usually in the first 1-2 weeks of the school year, many first grade parents suddenly come to visit their children's lunch, but later on, fewer parents come. The need to know what their children eat at school every day is a very legitimate need, and the school creates favorable conditions," said Ms. Tuyen.

Mr. Nguyen Thanh Lich, head of the Department of Education and Training of Lien Chieu district, said that the updating of boarding meals for parents and schools in the district is done very openly and transparently.

Mr. Lich believes that in addition to paying attention to the quality and quantity of meals, both parents and schools need to pay more attention to food safety and hygiene for boarding school kitchens.

Students also have less pressure.

The image of students at Le Dinh Chinh Primary School, Da Nang happily enjoying beef noodle soup was publicly shared by the teacher - Photo: TN

Parent Nguyen Thanh Tu (Hai Chau district) said that if the school does not proactively publicize the boarding meals, parents will try to scrutinize by "investigating their children", which can easily affect their own children.

"Because they are not at ease, they will ask their children every day what they ate at school today, what the meal was like, how much or how little they ate... This will make the children suffer because they will not focus on eating and enjoying the food with gratitude but will eat with consideration so that they can remember to report to their parents, in the long run it will form a habit of nitpicking in the children. So the school's public disclosure of the school's lunch also contributes to positively influencing the children," said Mr. Tu.

There are schools that are still formal.

Besides many schools that are doing well and receiving many compliments on Da Nang parents' forums, there are still some parents who reflect that the actual application process of some schools is still cumbersome.

Mr. Ngo Tien Tung, whose child attends a primary school in Hai Chau district, said: "I once went to the security guard and asked to visit the boarding kitchen during my child's lunch time. I waited for the information to be verified, reported to the principal, and then sent someone to take me there for more than 30 minutes. By the time I was taken in to see, my child had almost finished his lunch. Therefore, I think schools should proactively shorten the verification process to implement it in a more practical way."

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cong-khai-bua-an-ban-tru-moi-ngay-khoe-cho-truong-lan-phu-huynh-hoc-sinh-20241025084501912.htm