High school cuts boarding meals, principal resigns

The information was stated in the report of Song Ma District Party Committee on December 2. Previously, Ms. Nguyen Thi Ha, principal of Nam Ty Primary Boarding School, submitted a resignation letter because of "awareness of the responsibility of management staff" and it was approved.

The incident was discovered last weekend. According to VTV24, which aired on the evening of December 2, rice soup, boiled duck eggs, and fried sausages were almost the entire menu for the week at this school. Some days, students were given meat, but "more fat than lean", or frozen chicken. For the past two months, the students have not had milk on their menu.

A parent said that since October, the meals have been "very boring". He and some other parents went to the school to check and learned that the menu for many days consisted of boiled eggs and fried sausages, and some meals consisted of just vegetables and eggs or vegetables and beans. He reported it to the school, and the principal said they would remind the kitchen, but in reality, no adjustments were made.

On the afternoon of November 28, Mr. Nguyen Cong Vien, Head of the Department of Education and Training of Song Ma district, came to the school to inspect. The result was that the dinner on October 24 and the afternoon of November 5 only had boiled eggs and soup; the lunch on November 25 had fried chicken and cabbage soup.

On November 28, the inspection team did not provide details of the food, but said the boarding menu had 13 types of food and spices, used for 536 students with a total cost of 20.13 million VND, an average of more than 37,500 VND per student.

Meanwhile, according to government regulations, the subsidy for meals for each primary school child is more than 42,500 VND per day (three meals). The school's expenditure for students is less than 5,000 VND per child.

Also in the inspection conclusion, the Department said that Nam Ty school was still wrong because it had not publicly announced the boarding menu, food suppliers, spices...

"I admit that what I did was not reasonable," said Ms. Ha.

Song Ma District Party Committee requested the People's Committee and functional units to continue verifying the quality of boarding meals at Nam Ty Primary School and other schools in the area, and handle violations if any.

Since yesterday, Nam Ty students' meals have been improved with fried chicken, stir-fried sausage, cabbage and stir-fried squash. At noon today, they had rice with fried meat, two servings of stir-fried squash and cabbage soup.

Ms. Ha is currently assigned as a culture teacher at Chieng Khoong Primary School, also in the district. Ms. Mac Thi Loan, Deputy Head of the Song Ma Education and Training Department, has been assigned to take charge of Nam Ty Primary School from today until a new principal is appointed.

According to regulations, at least 50% of students in primary boarding schools for ethnic minorities must be ethnic minorities. Boarding students must be eligible for support policies according to government regulations, because they cannot go to school and return home by themselves during the day.

The monthly boarding allowance for students in extremely disadvantaged communes and villages is currently equal to 40% of the basic salary, equivalent to VND936,000 (more than VND42,500 per day). This amount is an increase of about VND200,000 compared to before July 1 due to the increase in the basic salary.

In addition, students are supported with books, blankets and mosquito nets worth 1.35 million VND per year and 15 kg of rice per month.