Class lunches shared to ensure food safety

[freemexy]

Class lunches shared to ensure food safety

Administrative staff, including principals, are having lunch with students at a number of local schools after a nationwide regulation came into effect on Monday.Li Aiming, vice principal of Jianping Lingang Primary School, sat down in a Grade-5 class at noon, eating the same food as the students and talking to them about it.To get more Changning District, you can visit shine news official website.

All seven top administrators in the school in the Pudong New Area, including the principal and Li, will take turns to eat with students.The regulation released last month by China’s Ministry of Education is aimed at enhancing food safety, as well as managing the health and nutrition of students.

Measures listed in the regulation include one that requires persons in charge of schools and kindergartens to dine with students for each meal provided on campus.As many schools in Shanghai have limited space and students have lunch in classrooms, the principals now go into classrooms to comply with the new rule.

“We were aware of the regulation and trialed it in some classes last month,” Li said. “From this month, we will officially follow the timetables worked out by the general affairs office to ensure that each day we will have one of the seven administrators eating in a classroom. We have 21 classes, so each class will see one of us, once a month.”

Li said head teachers had been having lunch with students in their classrooms since the school was established nine years ago and the practice will continue.He said the food was the same for students and teachers, and cooked in the same kitchen. Teachers, however, usually have larger portions, according to Li. He said the school’s food came from approved suppliers and was easily traceable.

“Food security and the health of children are top priorities in our school,” he said. “We insist on using vegetables in season and have never used genetically modified foods.”

Xu Wen, the school’s principal, said they are conducting a survey among students and parents to determine the most popular foods while keeping the dishes healthy.At Tianshan No. 1 Primary School in Changning District, five of its 14 administrators were having lunch with students yesterday. Two head teachers also joined the project.

Previously, administrators and teachers had lunch in the faculty’s canteen. Head teachers usually have lunch before students so that they can be in the classrooms to help distribute food and remind students about good manners, and deal with any emergent situation.

The food was the same for teachers and students, but cooking methods could vary as adults and children have different tastes.Shen Juan, Party secretary of the school, said its administrators and head teachers will take turns to dine in classrooms with students.

She said the change would not be a problem for the school as they initiated similar practices two years ago under a program launched by the district education bureau that required principals to dine with students once or twice a semester. The bureau director also made unannounced visits to local schools from time to time to have lunch with students, inspect the food and listen to students’ views.

The school also held surveys to gauge the views of parents, Shen said. There had been some misunderstandings about school meals, she added.