In Russia, starting September 1, junior schoolchildren will be able to receive free hot meals at school, but parents are worried about the quality of food in school canteens. This was announced on Sunday, August 30, by the executive director of the National Parents’ Association (NRA) Marianna Shevchenko in a conversation with Izvestia.
According to the Minister of Education Sergei Kravtsov, the government has allocated additional funds for 27 constituent entities of the Russian Federation to provide hot meals for primary schoolchildren, which is almost 30 billion rubles for 2020-2022.
At the same time, according to the documents regulating this aspect of school life, a schoolchild up to the fifth grade is allowed one hot meal a day – but which one is not specified. It is assumed that this issue will be resolved at the regional level. At the same time, you will have to pay for lunch.
The NRA conducted an express test on the cost of meals and found that, according to rough estimates, if you take six school days over four weeks, parents give from 1.2 to 3.4 thousand rubles a month.
“If we donate money for lunch, now we have free breakfasts, but the children do not eat it, this is a big problem. Often a child comes home and says, “Mom, I haven’t eaten anything,” because the food in the canteen is not tasty. Or cold – they cover it half an hour before breakfast or lunch, and it cools down, ”Shevchenko said.
Read more in the exclusive material from Izvestia.