Four thousand schoolchildren in Mykolaiv have already refused free meals

In Mykolaiv, a fifth of parents refuse to provide school meals. Photo: NikVesti

Since the beginning of the school year, more than 4,000 parents in Mykolaiv have refused to provide school meals. This is approximately 20% of all students who were supposed to be fed in educational institutions.

This was announced on 19 September by the head of the Mykolaiv Education Department, Hanna Lychko, answering questions from a journalist from NikVesti.

As you know, in the new academic year, all schoolchildren in Mykolaiv from grades 1 to 11 are entitled to free meals. The funding is shared: up to 70% of the costs are covered by the state, and the rest by the city budget.

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«When we launched the catering programme, we said that 21,000 pupils would eat in the canteens. When the process started, 19,445 pupils are currently attending the canteen. But at the same time, we have 4,356 refusals from the proposed type of meals. Parents decide for themselves whether it is suitable for their children,» said Hanna Lychko.

According to her, in two weeks of work, the education department has received two official complaints about the quality of food from the same institution. The problems are being worked out promptly, but it is too early to say that all the remarks have been eliminated.

«We received two complaints from the same educational institution. We immediately address the complaints the next day. As of today, I cannot say that everything has been eliminated 100%. This is not including the complaint about the lyceum about the food addressed to Mykola Arkas. We monitor everything you write on social media or in the media, because it is a feedback,» said Hanna Lychko.

Complaints about food in Mykolaiv schools

Parents complain about the quality of food in Mykolaiv schools, photo: Hanna Shevchenko

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 the 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 region checked the food served to children in 15 schools in the city. Experts analysed photo reports of the meals served to students.

As a reminder, in Mykolaiv, parents of pupils at Mykola Arkas Lyceum, which is temporarily operating on the basis of gymnasium №39, complain about problems with food in the canteen. According to them, the children are served portions that were not finished by the students of the gymnasium.