Food for children in Mykolaiv schools costs more than ₴20 million a month

The cost of feeding children in Mykolaiv schools is more than 20 million hryvnias a month. Photo: NikVesti

Every month, about 21.5 million hryvnias is spent on free meals for schoolchildren in Mykolaiv.

This was announced on 19 September during a briefing by Deputy Mayor for Humanitarian Affairs Anatolii Petrov and Head of the Education Department Hanna Lychko, according to NikVesti.

The total amount allocated for the two months of September and October is 43 million hryvnias: 30 million hryvnias came from the state budget, and another 12.8 million hryvnias are provided by the city budget. This allows us to feed about 21,000 students.

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According to estimates, the funds from the state budget will only last until October. In the future, the city needs about 53 million hryvnias in additional funding from the state budget to provide free meals to students in grades 5-11 for the rest of the year.

According to Anatoliy Petrov, the funds allocated by the Cabinet of Ministers are earmarked and can be used exclusively for school meals. In case of savings, they cannot be used for other needs — unused money is returned to the state budget at the end of the year.

«A Cabinet of Ministers resolution allocates funds for catering in frontline cities. This is earmarked money that can only be used for food. We have no right to redirect it for other needs. If a child refuses to have lunch, the money is simply kept and returned to the state budget at the end of the year. Currently, we have received funds only until October. If the contract lasts longer, it will mean that fewer children will attend the canteens and use the meals,» said Anatolii Petrov.

Hanna Lychko clarified that the current funding only partially covers the costs. The state pays 70% of the cost of meals, and the city pays 30%. The resolution stipulates that the state budget allocates a maximum of 50 hryvnias per child per day, while the actual cost of meals for schoolchildren ranges from 75.9 to 95 hryvnias.

«Meals for pupils aged 6-11 years for breakfast cost 75.90 hryvnias, 10-11 years — 75.90 hryvnias, 11-14 years — 85.80 hryvnias, 14-18 years — 95 hryvnias. In addition, subventions are clearly limited to no more than 50 hryvnias per child. That is, the rest of the money is paid from the local budget. We have received 30 million hryvnias, which will last until October. Perhaps the funds will last a little longer, depending on school attendance, as many children are currently sick. But in general, to complete the year, we need almost 9 million hryvnias more from the city budget and about 53 million hryvnias from the state budget. In total, we need more than 61 million hryvnias,» said Hanna Lychko.

She reminded that the initial tender for the provision of food for children was announced for 146 million hryvnias, but later it was reduced. Currently, the contract is worth 65 million hryvnias, as the state has not provided all the funds at once.

As you know, since the beginning of September, schools in Mykolaiv and other frontline regions have been providing free meals to pupils in grades 1-11. In Mykolaiv, schoolchildren were fed on 8 September. And almost from the first day, parents have been complaining about the quality of the food their children are given, as well as violations of sanitary standards in the canteens.

Complaints about food in Mykolaiv schools

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

Earlier, parents of Mykolaiv school students 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 Oblast checked the food served to children in 15 schools in the city. Experts analysed photo reports of the meals served to students.

Anatoliy Petrov, Deputy Mayor of Mykolaiv for Social and Humanitarian Affairs, said that no city in Ukraine can provide quality food for all schoolchildren.

As a reminder, in Mykolaiv, parents of students 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.

The Mykolaiv Education Department confirmed that maggots were found in the porridge at a school in Mykolaiv in the first days of September.