Free meals go down well with poor students
Source: Xinhua |
February 27, 2012, Monday
|
Print Edition
Print Edition
AN egg for breakfast and lunch that includes meat - both free of charge - feature on the school menu every day for He Xin, a second-grade student in Delong County in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.
He and 260,000 other students in the region are eligible for free breakfast and lunch every day, as part of a government initiative to improve nutrition for rural students.
The 16 billion yuan (US$2.53 billion) program began last autumn and covers 680 poverty-stricken cities and counties in northwest China.
Under the initiative, 26 million students receive free meals for the duration of their compulsory education, which lasts from primary school to junior middle school in China.
"With the government's subsidies, each student is able to have one egg each morning and five lunches that include both meat and vegetables each week," said Ma Jianshe, director of the student financial aid center of Delong's education bureau.
All 135 of Delong's primary schools have implemented the free meals program, he said.
Delong is one of seven counties in Xihaigu, an impoverished region in Ningxia. For years, most of the region's students have had only a few pieces of steamed bread to eat for breakfast, arousing public concern about malnutrition.
"We felt relieved when our son told us that he can have free breakfast and lunch at school," said Ma Yanmei, He's mother.
She said her child is often hungry, as she and her husband must work far from home each day, adding that it is rare for the family to have meals with meat more than once a month.
The nutrition improvement project will have profound influence on Chinese education, particularly in rural regions, Ma Jianshe said.
While providing nutritious food for students remains the primary concern of local authorities, challenges have also arisen around food safety.
To ensure food safety, some counties in Ningxia require school officials to eat the same food as the students.
The Delong County government has also introduced regular testing for food provided by local schools, according to Wang Yanming, principal of the county's Liancai Central Primary School.
"(The program) will lead to ... a revolution in rural school management in poverty-stricken regions," Ma Jianshe said.
He and 260,000 other students in the region are eligible for free breakfast and lunch every day, as part of a government initiative to improve nutrition for rural students.
The 16 billion yuan (US$2.53 billion) program began last autumn and covers 680 poverty-stricken cities and counties in northwest China.
Under the initiative, 26 million students receive free meals for the duration of their compulsory education, which lasts from primary school to junior middle school in China.
"With the government's subsidies, each student is able to have one egg each morning and five lunches that include both meat and vegetables each week," said Ma Jianshe, director of the student financial aid center of Delong's education bureau.
All 135 of Delong's primary schools have implemented the free meals program, he said.
Delong is one of seven counties in Xihaigu, an impoverished region in Ningxia. For years, most of the region's students have had only a few pieces of steamed bread to eat for breakfast, arousing public concern about malnutrition.
"We felt relieved when our son told us that he can have free breakfast and lunch at school," said Ma Yanmei, He's mother.
She said her child is often hungry, as she and her husband must work far from home each day, adding that it is rare for the family to have meals with meat more than once a month.
The nutrition improvement project will have profound influence on Chinese education, particularly in rural regions, Ma Jianshe said.
While providing nutritious food for students remains the primary concern of local authorities, challenges have also arisen around food safety.
To ensure food safety, some counties in Ningxia require school officials to eat the same food as the students.
The Delong County government has also introduced regular testing for food provided by local schools, according to Wang Yanming, principal of the county's Liancai Central Primary School.
"(The program) will lead to ... a revolution in rural school management in poverty-stricken regions," Ma Jianshe said.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
