Support for boarding meals: Reduce the burden on parents, take care of nutrition for primary school students

At the 25th session, the Hanoi People's Council passed Resolution No. 18/2025/NQ-HDND regulating the mechanism for supporting boarding meals for primary school students in Hanoi, starting from the 2025-2026 school year.

Lunchtime of students at Trang An High Quality Primary School, Hoan Kiem Ward, Hanoi . (Photo: QN)

This is a practical and humane policy, contributing to reducing the economic burden on parents and improving the quality of care and nutrition for students.

According to Resolution No. 18, the support level for primary school students in group 1 (studying at 23 educational institutions in mountainous communes and communes in the Red River delta before the time of administrative unit arrangement) is 30 thousand VND/student/day for main meals.

For group 2, including primary school students at the remaining educational institutions, the support level is 20,000 VND/student/day. In case parents and schools agree on a higher meal allowance than the State support level, the difference will be collected from the student, ensuring a minimum meal allowance of 30,000 VND/student/day. The support period is applied in the 2025-2026 school year, based on the actual number of meal days, not exceeding 9 months/school year.

Thus, from the 2025-2026 school year, about 768,000 primary school students in Hanoi, including both public and private schools, will be supported with 20,000 to 30,000 VND/lunch per day. The total estimated budget for this policy is more than 3,000 billion VND. This is a practical and humane policy, receiving the consensus of schools, experts and parents.

Vice President of the Vietnam Association of Educational Psychology, Dr. Nguyen Tung Lam, commented: Hanoi's implementation of supporting boarding meals for primary school students, in addition to the tuition exemption policy, clearly demonstrates the State and city's concern for future generations, bringing many practical benefits to families.

Sharing the same view, Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Thi An, a delegate of the 13th National Assembly, emphasized that for students, a nutritious lunch at school not only helps them develop physically but also improves their ability to absorb lessons, creating a solid foundation for intellectual and personality development. A balanced, scientific diet at school contributes to enhancing physical strength, intelligence and concentration, thereby promoting the comprehensive development of children. "The decision to support boarding meals for primary school students in Hanoi clearly demonstrates the goal of considering education as a top national policy, and at the same time shows the responsibility and determination of the Party and State in caring for the young generation - the future of the country", Ms. Bui Thi An emphasized.

Ms. Ngo Lan Phuong, a parent of a child studying at Nam Trung Yen Primary School in Hanoi, expressed her joy that from the new school year, her child will receive lunch support at school. In the context of increasing living costs, this policy helps to significantly reduce the economic burden on parents, while ensuring that students' meals are nutritious and safe.

Ms. Lan Phuong shared that last school year, parents directly visited the vegetable and fruit farm, the processing kitchen as well as the production process of the school's food supplier, thereby feeling more secure about the quality of the food source.

From that reality, she hopes that the process of selecting meal providers must be made public, transparent, inspected, and evaluated by the authorities to ensure the quality of students' meals.

Meanwhile, Mr. Tran Van Duc, a parent of a child studying at Nam Tu Liem Primary School, said: Previously, parents could participate in monitoring school meals, contributing to ensuring the safety of students when eating at school. “When parents do not have to pay, the choice of meal providers will be decided by the local government. I hope the selection process will be carried out publicly and transparently and parents will still be able to participate in monitoring,” Mr. Duc expressed.

Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Thi An, National Assembly Delegate of the 13th tenure, emphasized that with such a correct and humane policy, the most important thing is that the management agency must organize effective implementation, ensuring the quality of meals.

According to her, students' meals not only need to be nutritious but also absolutely safe and hygienic. Therefore, in addition to good policies, there needs to be strict management, regular and serious supervision and inspection so that each meal delivered to students is truly safe, nutritious, and contributes to improving their physical and mental health.

Emphasizing the importance of quality school meals, nutrition expert, Dr. Ho Thu Mai said: Designing a scientific and reasonable menu plays an important role in supporting the comprehensive development of children. School meals not only need to provide enough energy but also ensure a balance between nutrient groups such as carbohydrates, protein and fat.

Dr. Ho Thu Mai and her research team have collaborated with Huong Viet Sinh Company Limited to develop a scientific school nutrition menu, ensuring food safety, suitable for students' tastes and ages; prioritizing fresh foods, minimizing processed foods and adjusting appropriate portions to help children develop healthily and form healthy eating habits.

Along with providing school meals in Hanoi, Huong Viet Sinh Company Limited has built a closed food supply chain "from farm to table", to ensure the clear origin and quality of food.

At the same time, the unit coordinates with nutrition research facilities to develop seasonal menus, suitable for each age group and changing regularly, helping students have diverse meals, ensuring nutrition and food safety.

In addition, the application of information technology and the construction of a digital platform help schools, management agencies and parents easily monitor, supervise and access information about boarding menus.

This solution contributes to making school nutrition management more transparent, scientific and effective, while supporting parents to grasp information about students' nutrition quickly and accurately.

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Source: https://nhandan.vn/ho-tro-bua-an-ban-tru-giam-ganh-nang-phu-huynh-cham-lo-dinh-duong-cho-hoc-sinh-tieu-hoc-post896262.html