Ho Chi Minh City students complain that boarding meals are 'not worth the price'

In recent days, on student forums in Ho Chi Minh City, there have been continuous postings of images of students providing and expressing their frustration about the quality of meals at boarding schools.

Boarding meals are considered by students to be not worth the money.

PHOTO: PROVIDED BY STUDENTS

In a social media post, an account claiming to be a student at G. High School, a top school in the city, shared that his friend had just had braces and had registered for a porridge meal. However, the kitchen ran out of porridge so he boiled 3 eggs for his friend to eat with rice and soup. The student was upset because a 38,000 VND meal only had 3 boiled eggs.

Confirming with Thanh Nien reporter, this account said that he is a student of Gia Dinh High School (Binh Thanh District), posting to express his anger. "Because we have reported to the school many times but still have not been resolved, my friends and I feel that we do not receive understanding and listening from the school. Therefore, I posted about the boarding meals to seek sympathy and a common voice from the online community," this student said.

Students post about boarding meals on social media

Notably, under this post, many parents and students expressed their anger at the lunches at Gia Dinh High School, saying that the portions were too small, the dishes were sketchy, not fresh, and "even worse than charity meals".

BM (name changed), a student at the school, told Thanh Nien reporters that with the boarding meals, even if they asked for more food, they were only given a small amount, not enough for the needs of growing students. "In addition, the menu is often repeated, sometimes they eat chicken 2-3 times a week, and even foreign objects such as worms and flies appear in the soup and vegetables, and the rice is sometimes moldy," BM reflected.

"We reported this situation to the school board, and the school resolved it by removing leafy vegetables and only giving them fruits. The problem of asking for more food initially improved, but after a few days it returned to the same situation, still giving little," BM shared.

CP (name changed), another student at the school, told Thanh Nien that even if they don't want to, they still have to register for lunch in order to take a nap. "My house is far from school, and I have classes in the afternoon. I can't stand not taking a nap, but the school's rule is that if we want to take a nap, we have to register for lunch. Last year, the school forbade us from ordering food from outside or bringing food from home," P. said.

In addition, many readers also sent messages to Thanh Nien Newspaper to report on the school's lunch. Among them, a parent of a student at Gia Dinh High School indignantly reported to Thanh Nien Newspaper reporter: "Oh my god, it's terrible. There's a lot of spoiled food. I paid for lunch but my child didn't eat it, so I had to bring food with me. 38,000 VND/meal, it's not a big deal, but here the food is spoiled. There were comments at the parent meeting, but it was the same. Once, when the children saw spoiled food, they reported it to the principal, but she said, "Throw it away, don't say anything." So every day I have to cook rice for my child to bring with me."

What did the principal of Gia Dinh High School say?

In response to the complaints and frustrations of students and parents of Gia Dinh High School, the reporter contacted Ms. Nguyen Ngoc Khanh Van, the school's principal, to receive feedback on the school's lunch. However, on October 29, Ms. Van said she was busy with a meeting and "needed sufficient evidence to prove that the school had no problem, the problem was with someone other than the parents and students"...

Until today, October 31, when the reporter contacted to ask for information, he was asked: "Please confirm the truth, how do you know it's parents and students", "Please give me proof first. I found it on the forum, it's not a student".

When the reporter continued to provide data about parents' complaints to Thanh Nien Newspaper reporters about the quality of the meals at Gia Dinh High School, Ms. Khanh Van replied: "It is still not enough to confirm whether it is a parent or someone else. I have enough information about what is not true. But I need to confirm from her whether she is a parent."

Thanh Nien Newspaper will continue to update information when there is a response from the school.

Students complained about small food portions, the school explained and adjusted promptly.

Students post pictures of their lunch

On the Ho Chi Minh City student forum, information and photos were posted, said to be of some students from Hoang Hoa Tham High School (Binh Thanh District), reflecting on their boarding meals. One student posted that his lunch consisted of beef noodle soup with a few pieces of meat and thinly sliced ​​sausage.

As for TT students, they said that since the school changed the canteen, the meals have been smaller and not affordable. "There are days when there is only fish and eggs, but if you don't eat fish, you will have to eat 2 portions of eggs, and those are scrambled eggs. At 35,000 VND per meal, ordering food outside is of better quality," this student said.

Sharing the same opinion, HG students were not satisfied because the food did not suit their taste and the menu was repetitive. "The portions were quite small, so there were some meals when we did not have enough to eat, we had to ask for more rice and soup," HG said.

Speaking to Thanh Nien Newspaper reporters today (October 31), Mr. Huynh Van Binh, Vice Principal in charge of boarding at Hoang Hoa Tham High School (Binh Thanh District), said that the school only received information about meals from social networks and did not receive feedback from students to the school. However, as soon as the school saw that information, it worked with the supplier to make timely adjustments.

Regarding the image of the beef noodle bowl mentioned above, Mr. Huynh Van Binh confirmed that it was an image of the school's meals and said that on that day, as a daily task, this vice principal participated in monitoring the distribution of food. And Mr. Binh acknowledged that there was an uneven distribution of food among the approximately 1,400 boarding students. However, Mr. Binh said that he only knew the information from the teacher reporting that there were images of students complaining online, but no student had discussed it with the school. "Upon receiving the above information, we immediately discussed it with the school's boarding meal supplier, requesting that they pay attention to the distribution of food, and not let this situation happen," Mr. Binh said.

Regarding the reflection that the food portions are small and students have to "ask for more rice and soup", the Vice Principal in charge of boarding at Hoang Hoa Tham High School said that the school's viewpoint is not to divide the trays full of rice and soup because each student has different abilities, so they should divide just enough to avoid waste. However, to prepare for the situation where students have a large appetite, the school always arranges an additional supply area so that students can get more when necessary.

Students of Hoang Hoa Tham High School have lunch at the cafeteria on October 31.

Talking to Thanh Nien Newspaper reporters about general management, Ms. Le Thi Xuan Dung, Principal of Hoang Hoa Tham High School, said that in the 2024-2025 school year, the school will conduct a canteen auction according to state regulations. The canteen is clean, beautiful and airy, and students love it. However, each child's taste and appetite are different, so when students complain, the school will work with the supplier immediately.

"Recently, the school has not received any feedback from students but only received feedback via Facebook and the school is doing the following: Talking to boarding students to understand their thoughts; talking to teachers in charge of boarding; taking pictures of food and even extra food trays; randomly asking students for opinions and suggestions about boarding food during the day. At the same time, the school has invited the company to discuss students' suggestions to make adjustments to suit the wishes of the majority of students," Ms. Xuan Dung informed.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/hoc-sinh-tphcm-phan-anh-bua-an-ban-tru-khong-xung-voi-gia-tien-185241031171842127.htm