Almost all schools in the city have assigned professional nutritionists for good-quality meals.

However, school principals remain concerned current eating fees mean schools cannot provide students with nutritious meals in the face of rising costs.

Students’ health at risk

If we maintain current fees, kindergartens only managed to supply 55 per cent of necessary calories, compared to 60% as regulated, said Chief of Kindergarten Education, HCMC Department of Education and Training, Nguyen Thi Kim Thanh.

Thus raising fees is a reality even though increases in tuition and food fees are sensitive issues, they must be decided at the beginning of this school year, she added.

“With some 1,000 students eating at school, we find it difficult to manage with only VND7,500 (US50¢) per day as regulated by the district People’s Committee, “ Duong Thi Ngoc Thu, Principal of District 3 Ky Dong primary school said.

Thu added she was looking forward to the meeting between the district leaders and schools leaders to consider the issue, although with a large number of students, her school buys food in bulk, easing costs and leaving her school less affected than others.

Meanwhile, the Principal of Tran Van On secondary school, Tran Mau Minh admitted his school can only guarantee main meals’ quality while extra meals may be affected.

He added although the school is supplied with foods from two different providers for better quality management and pricing, they cannot manage well with a daily sum of only VND8,000.

Meal fees are decided by parents and schools together, but cannot exceed the maximum fees ruled by People’s Committee of each district.  

Tran Thi Tri, deputy chief of Tan Phu district’s Education division complained nurseries and kindergartens cannot balance kids’ diets on the humble sum of VND6,000-7,000 per child per day.

Parents cannot afford the elevated fees considering local residents were mainly manual laborers, she worried.

But, otherwise, we risk kids’ physical development due to poor nutrition, she added.

Private schools easy on fee increases

Meanwhile, private institutions have no fee ceiling, and can freely discuss the issue with parents when necessary.

Thanh Binh private high school is to raise fees by VND100,000 a month, including meal expenses. Similarly, Truong Vinh Ky private school will raise its fees by VND50,000 a month to make up for the differences.

Private schools are luring an increasing number of students, not only with good teaching quality, advanced learning environment but also with premium healthcare.

“We are applying the most advanced food technology from a reliable hotel in the city which is managed by a person with a bachelor’s degree in the field. Students’ daily meals are thus carefully studied and prepared,” asserted Nguyen Van Hieu, Truong Vinh Ky’s chairman of management board.

So, any fee increase is intended only to ensure students’ well-being, he added.

Reported by Bich Thanh – Translated by Ngoc Hanh.