Semi-boarding kitchens and regulations that are not guaranteed
To record the process of organizing semi-boarding meals at some private kindergartens in Hanoi, PV applied for a job at the kitchen and was accepted for a probationary period even though he did not have experience.
At Happy Smile Kindergarten (Thanh Ha Urban Area, Hanoi), after a round of interviews that only took place for a few minutes at noon, PV was accepted for a probationary job in the main kitchen position with a starting salary of nearly 6 million VND.
Although we clearly discussed that we do not have a certificate on cooking and catering according to regulations on job positions, school staff capacity standards and mandatory standards on food safety and hygiene in collective kitchens, the interviewer still agreed to accept the reporter for probation in the role of chef.
I can start my probation right from tomorrow, the certificate also needs to be completed soon to avoid being checked" - the probation interviewer at Happy Smile Kindergarten said.
According to Ms. Trang (currently temporarily in charge of kitchen work - character name has been changed), the kitchen starts working from 6:30 am, receiving food, preliminary processing and preparing meals for about 50 servings per day. While guiding the processing, Ms. Trang adds water to the minced meat to make the meat quickly flaky and soft and directly stirs the meat with water.
According to the Law on Food Safety, collective kitchens belong to the group of food service business establishments. These establishments must ensure conditions on location, environment, facilities, equipment, tools; the preliminary processing and processing process must ensure that food is not cross-contained or exposed to polluting and toxic factors. The person directly processing must comply with regulations on health, knowledge and food safety practices.
Because the kindergarten is located in the middle of a construction urban area, the surrounding area often has the sound of drills, chisels and dust. The sink area is located outside the building, adjacent to the houses under construction and is used to wash vegetables and pre-process food for children.
The washing and preliminary processing area close to the construction site does not have enough grounds to conclude violations. However, the facility must ensure a safe distance from the source of pollution and prevent food from being contaminated during the preliminary processing and processing.
From the reality recorded, PV asked questions about dust control measures, food contamination risks and whether schools are notified in advance when functional agencies inspect or not.
Ms. Trang said: "Before the inspection team arrives, we will be notified in advance to prepare, maybe they will clearly say that today they will come to inspect or this week they will come, so after cooking, we need to clean up.
In the 2026-2027 school year, Hanoi issued Guidance 02/HD-BCĐ on ensuring food safety in organizing semi-boarding meals. According to regulations, control must be maintained throughout the meal organization process. Heads of units with collective kitchens are responsible for food safety; ingredients must be of clear origin, ensure safety and store food samples.
Cooking certificates and easy advertisements
Not only at Happy Smile Thanh Ha Kindergarten, the recruitment of cooks without placing heavy requirements on qualifications and professional certificates was also recorded by reporters at some other facilities. Just searching online for the phrase "buy cooking certificates", many advertising results appeared. Contacting an advertised lead, reporters were advised about the course by a man named Quyen - claiming to be a teacher at Hanoi College of Crafts.
According to this person, the school is enrolling cooking certificate courses for people working in semi-boarding kitchens. With an amount of less than 2 million VND, PV was introduced to be able to participate in the course and receive the certificate after less than a month.
The class has 5 online classes in the evening and 1 practice session to take the certificate exam, but this exam is extremely simple, there is a teacher who guides me all, just take the exam and you will automatically pass" - this person said. The above advertisements raise questions about the quality of training when learning and exams are at risk of being formalistic. For those who directly prepare food for children, certificates cannot replace complying with food safety procedures.
According to Hanoi regulations, schools organizing semi-boarding must control from human resources, facilities to receiving, preserving, processing, serving and supervising; and at the same time publicize menus, suppliers, and food origins.
The quality of semi-boarding meals cannot only be based on records or certificates, but must be actually controlled from human resources, kitchen conditions to food sources.
Management agencies also need to verify the legality of training courses, the value of certificates and the actual capacity of the granted person. Boarding meals are the result of the entire chain of control; even a loose link can generate unsafety risks.
Parents cannot supervise the kitchen every day, so the school must have strict control procedures, actual supervision and clearly define responsibilities at each stage to ensure safety for children.
