Vietnam - Northern schools cut student meals over fee cap

Many elementary schools in Nam Dinh City, the provincial capital of Nam Dinh Province in the north, have notified school parents in writing that they will stop providing meals to day students from January, following the local authorities’ placing a cap on meal fees.

In November last year, the provincial people’s committee capped the fees at VND15,000 (US$0.72) per day for a student, which the schools say is not enough to pay for the meals because prices keep rising every day.

Some school principals told Tuoi Tre that the sum is not sufficient to even buy food, let alone to cover other costs, including salaries for cooks, hygiene staff, and meal servers.

As a result, a few schools already started reducing the amount of food served at lunch, while others decided to cut the extra meals they often offered in late afternoons.

Many parents thus have had to prepare food for their kids to bring along with them to school, but several schools have recently banned it.

“I disagree with this negative response although, financially speaking, I feel a certain sympathy for them,” a parent said.

Bui Anh Tuan, head of the elementary education division at Nam Dinh Province’s Department of Education and Training, said the department has asked the people’s committee to adjust the cap to an appropriate level.

“We strongly advise elementary schools to continue providing meals to day students while waiting for the people’s committee to issue a new cap,” Tuan said.

The city has over 15,000 elementary students, more than half of whom are day boarders.

TUOI TRE

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