Cafeteria worker at Mykolaiv gymnasium №39 fired after food scandal

Following complaints from parents of students of the Mykola Arkas Lyceum, which temporarily operates on the basis of gymnasium №39, the canteen worker was fired.

This became known during a briefing on catering in Mykolaiv educational institutions, according to NikVesti.

We would like to remind you that recently, parents of students of the Arkas Lyceum complained about violations of sanitary standards in the school canteen. According to them, the children were served dishes that were not finished by the students of the gymnasium, or leftovers were added to make it look like it was fresh.

The head of the Mykolaiv City Council's education department, Hanna Lychko, said she learned about the incident from the news, and the headmistress of the gymnasium had already informed her of the comments on the work of the canteen.

«Last night, the headmistress called me and told me about the situation. She said that they had already made comments twice. I replied: if you had called immediately after the first time, the second incident would not have happened. Unfortunately, I only learned about the incident at gymnasium No. 39 from the news. The principal complained that if the staff had covered the portions and no one was eating them, they should be disposed of. Even those meals that the children did not finish should also be disposed of. The calculation of meals is done according to the number of children who have come to school — it is checked every morning,» said Hanna Lychko.

According to Deputy Mayor Anatolii Petrov, the canteen worker was fired after the checks.

«I would not like such cases to happen, but sometimes the human factor does not work in our favour,» said Anna Lychko, head of the education department.

«But I would like to add that this person no longer works at the educational institution,» added Deputy Mayor Anatolii Petrov.

Vira Zghama, a technologist at the municipal production enterprise for catering in educational institutions, added that the barmaid explained that two students had not come to lunch, so she decided to heat up their portions for the other students.

«The barmaid said that two children from school №39 did not show up, so she took their portions and took them to heat the porridge. I told her: you were supposed to dispose of these dishes. This is again the human factor. Today, a new barmaid is already working in the school,» said Zghama.

Complaints about food in Mykolaiv schools

Earlier, parents of Mykolaiv schoolchildren expressed dissatisfaction with free meals on social media. According to them, the portions were smaller than normal, the meals were served cold, and the dishes in the school canteens were dirty.

Petro Vasheniak, director of the municipal production enterprise for catering in Mykolaiv educational institutions, said he had personally checked the situation, particularly at school 41, where parents complained about the amount of food on the plate. According to him, the portions were in line with the standards, but in the photo, part of the dish was hidden—- for example, a chicken nugget was lying on top of potatoes.

Later, the State Food and Consumer Service of Mykolaiv stated that they had not received any complaints about poor quality food in the city's school canteens.

Meanwhile, the mayor of Mykolaiv, Oleksandr Sienkevych, responded to parents' complaints by saying that a special commission would be set up in the city with representatives of the city council to monitor the situation.

Following the incident, the Main Department of the State Service of Ukraine for Food Safety and Consumer Protection in Mykolaiv Oblast checked the food served to children in 15 schools in the city. Experts analysed photo reports of the meals served to students.

It is known that in the new school year, all pupils from grades 1 to 11 will be provided with free meals in Mykolaiv schools. The funding for meals will be shared: up to 70% of the costs will be covered by the state, and the rest by the city budget.

It should be noted that at the last session, the deputies of the Mykolaiv City Council reallocated the city budget, including 14 million hryvnias for meals for children in the city's schools.

As a reminder, it was planned to spend 146.2 million hryvnias on meals for children in Mykolaiv schools by the end of this year. Earlier it was reported that school meals would rise in price from 1 September.