On January 29, the Ho Chi Minh City Department of Education and Training requested schools to stop all semi-boarding meals using products of An Phuoc Thang SG Trading Co., Ltd. (Sago Food), and emphasized strengthening the supervision of the meal process.
However, the question is: Should the supervision of semi-boarding meals only rely on functional agencies and schools or does it require the participation of parents to ensure food safety for students?
Boarding meals at schools play an important role in ensuring nutrition and health for students. However, the quality of meals at some schools recently has not met the expectations of parents, causing them to worry.
Parents are the ones who directly care about their children's health, and therefore, they have the right to participate in monitoring the process of organizing semi-boarding meals. When schools cannot build absolute trust in the quality of meals, allowing parents to participate in monitoring will help them feel more secure. People who work directly with students, witnessing the changes of their children every day, will have an objective and timely view to detect food safety issues that functional agencies may not detect immediately.
Currently, regulations on monitoring semi-boarding meals at schools mainly rely on coordination between functional agencies and schools. Schools are responsible for ensuring food hygiene and safety, from the selection of food suppliers to processing and serving meals. However, regular inspection and supervision have not been implemented in a truly transparent and effective manner, especially in the context that semi-boarding meals are increasingly using many industrial meal service providers.
According to current regulations, the responsibility for supervising school kitchens belongs to the food safety management agency, but inspections are often only carried out according to a periodic plan, lacking surprise and objectivity. Therefore, if only relying on functional agencies, it is difficult to ensure that schools always strictly implement food safety and hygiene regulations.
Schools need to play an active role in selecting and monitoring meal providers. Schools must not only ensure the quality of meals but also create a transparent environment where parents can participate in monitoring and reflecting opinions. Listening to and absorbing opinions from parents will help schools detect and promptly overcome issues related to semi-boarding meals. Authorities and agencies
Functional agencies also need to support schools in supervision, especially in ensuring food quality from suppliers. Unscheduled inspections, along with the participation of parents in supervision, will be key factors in improving the quality of semi-boarding meals and ensuring safety for students.
Monitoring semi-boarding meals is an important issue, directly affecting students' health. To ensure food safety, the participation of parents in the monitoring process is necessary. Schools need to create favorable conditions for parents to participate in monitoring transparently and effectively. At the same time, functional agencies need to strengthen inspection and regular supervision to ensure the quality of semi-boarding meals, thereby creating a safe and healthy learning environment for students.
