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STARK CONTRAST: Diets before (left) and after (right) the national nutrition improvement program in Sanzhiyang Primary School in Du'an Yao Ethnic Autonomous County, Guangxi (ZHANG YING) |
So far, the government has not issued clear directives on who should pay for labor and the cost of preparing and serving meals. In Mashan, schools have adopted different strategies to ensure that meals are prepared and served to students.
Some schools such as the Qingtang Primary School in Guzhai Yao Ethnic Township have hired workers to cook and serve meals. In other schools such as the Heli Primary School in Linwei Town, teachers take turns to cook meals although they receive no additional pay. On the Bawu Youyi Campus of Huangfan Primary School in Linwei Town, the school has agreed to let some parents cook meals at home and then bring the food to school and distribute it to students.
In recent years, the absolute number of rural students in the compulsory education period has decreased, leading to the closure and merger of many rural schools. Many students now have to travel longer distances to reach schools or go to boarding schools.
Boarding students have three meals in school, and some non-boarding students also need to have lunch at school, so whether children can have enough warm food to eat at school is a major concern for every family and the whole society.
Although children's nutritional condition in central and west China has improved in recent years, a number of issues have still not been addressed.
On February 27, 2011, the China Development Research Foundation released a study on the nutritional condition of poor rural students in China.
It revealed that the nutrition intake for children in poor areas in central and west China was far from sufficient. Scholars call this phenomenon "nutritional poverty."
Researchers found that 12 percent of the surveyed students suffered from growth retardation, and 9 percent were under weight.
Many non-boarding students from poor families were also found suffering malnutrition and growth retardation. Previously fiscal support was only given to poor rural boarding students, whereas poor non-boarding students were not eligible.
In 2003, the Central Government decided to give poor rural boarding students a living allowance.
But the study by the China Development Research Foundation concluded that because the Central Government did not specify that the living allowance was to be used to improve students' diets, various local government departments disagreed as to how to use the subsidy and how to improve students' nutrition levels. For instance, the Finance Department of Guangxi stipulated that the subsidy should be granted to parents in cash. But parents often used this money for other purposes than improving their children's nutrition.
In response, the State Council said in a statement last October that the living allowance for poor rural boarding students should be strictly used to provide food for them.
In January, ministries of finance and education announced they would invest an additional 10 billion yuan ($1.6 billion) to build kitchens for schools covered by the national nutrition improvement program. They have also unveiled multiple accountability systems to ensure the fund are used for the intended purpose.
The Ministry of Education has encouraged participation of charity organizations and individuals in implementing the national nutrition improvement program.
"While the government plays a leading role, it takes a joint social effort to improve the nutritional condition of poor rural students. The Central Government's fiscal support will not "crowd out" the efforts of local governments, social organizations and individuals in this regard," said the Chinese Education News.
Email us at: wanghairong@bjreview.com | 
