Heartwarming school lunch

(Baonghean) - With the "36-grain rice" (referring to a specific type of rice), most boarding schools and schools with boarding students in the highland districts have coordinated quite smoothly with parent associations and local authorities, using the financial support from Decision 85/2010/QD-TTg of the Prime Minister on promulgating a number of policies to support boarding students and ethnic minority boarding schools, to ensure that the children have warm, nutritious meals...

We arrived at Nam Can Ethnic Boarding School (Nam Can commune, Ky Son district) at dismissal time. From the sturdy and well-equipped classrooms, students in their bright uniforms streamed back to the boarding house about 200 meters away. In the kitchen, three cooks busily divided the meals into numbered white aluminum pots and placed them on steel shelves. The students would eat together in the covered courtyard. In the courtyard, rows of wooden tables and chairs were neatly arranged, numbered according to groups so that the students could sit and eat in an orderly manner.

At exactly 11:45, after the signal bell rang, the children took their bowls and spoons and sat down in their places to begin eating. Today's meal consisted of braised fish and soup. At tables where there weren't enough people, the children waited for their friends to come and eat. The older children thoughtfully served food to the younger ones... Lầu Bá Thái, a 9th-grade student, shared: "The teachers' cooking is very delicious. I eat three bowls every day. Besides braised fish and vegetable soup like today, sometimes there's meat and eggs for lunch..." Cử Bá Cung, a 6th-grade student, shyly added: "Eating at school is much better than at home! Being able to eat well and feel full makes us feel more at ease and focus on our studies."

Nam Can Ethnic Boarding High School is located in a mountainous border region, adjacent to Laos, and has 341 students. Of these, 266 are boarding students (mostly children of the Mong and Khmu ethnic groups) whose homes are more than 10 km from the school, making daily commutes impossible. Previously, the school experienced a high dropout rate, but for the past two years, especially since the school implemented centralized meal preparation, student attendance has improved significantly. Mr. Pham Hong Thang, the school principal, shared: "Although the school still faces many difficulties and shortages in facilities and operating funds, with the timely support policies of the State for students in particularly difficult areas such as Decision 85 and Decision 36, the lives and studies of the students have changed significantly. Previously, the students had to build dilapidated, damp, and tattered huts around the school to both study and live in. Every day after school, they had to go to the forest to pick bamboo shoots and gather firewood to cook their own meals, so their studies were neglected. Many students could not endure the hardship and dropped out of school, staying at home to follow their parents to the fields or getting married. Since the implementation of Decisions 85 and 36 of the Prime Minister... each student receives monthly support of 460,000 VND and 15 kg of rice. The school has coordinated with the government and the parent association to organize accommodation and food for the students, so everything has changed for the better..."

A school lunch at Nam Can Ethnic Minority Boarding School (Ky Son).

In Mon Son commune, Con Cuong district, the task of encouraging Dan Lai ethnic minority students living upstream of the Giang River (in the core area of ​​Pu Mat National Park) to attend school has been extremely difficult and arduous over the years. At the beginning of each school year or after the Lunar New Year holiday, the school has to coordinate with the commune to form teams to visit each family, meet with parents, and persuade the children to attend classes. This school year, both Khe Bung and Co Phat villages have 70 students of secondary school age; currently, 57 have enrolled at Mon Son Secondary School. To help the students focus on their studies, the school has organized meals for them right in the boarding area. Mr. Nguyen Van Hao, the school principal, said: "The school has 440 students, 100% of whom receive rice support under Decision 36; 223 students receive support under Decision 85. Due to the cramped and inadequate boarding facilities, the school has only been able to provide accommodation and meals for 44 Dan Lai students. The remaining students are staying in local residents' homes around the school. To ensure the students receive adequate meals, the school has contracted a security guard who also cooks for them. The funding for this cooking service is raised through contributions from parents, teachers, and benefactors."

At Chau Khe Secondary School (Con Cuong district), the boarding facilities are very well-maintained and clean. Located within the school grounds, the boarding area houses 44 boarding students from families in the two villages of Khe Bu and Khe La, located 15 km away from the school. Each student is provided with a bed. Next to the dormitory is a communal dining hall with tables, chairs, and stainless steel food trays. Sharing the school's approach, Principal Cao Khac Hung said: "Because the students live far away, the school has arranged for them to stay right on campus. To ensure they have adequate meals, the school has contracted a staff member whose job is to cook meals for them daily, and the school pays this person's salary. The school's advantage is that food is readily available, so the students' meal menus are changed daily, ensuring nutrition and food safety..."

Witnessing the meals of students at boarding and semi-boarding ethnic minority schools in the two districts of Kỳ Sơn and Con Cuông, we recalled the day we followed the working group into the mountains to deliver "rice 36" to Tam Hợp Secondary School. We listened to the story of Mr. Võ Anh Tuấn, the school principal: Before the school organized meals for the students, the money and rice provided were directly given to the parents. However, many parents used the money for other expenses; some even sold the rice to stalls for spending money, drinking alcohol, etc., instead of buying clothes or providing food for their children's education. As a result, the students always came to school in a state of food shortage, their meals mainly consisting of bamboo shoots, salt, and a little river fish. Seeing the students returning from school and busily cooking over a fire, with only salt, bamboo shoots, and vegetables, and occasionally a fish caught from the stream, the teachers couldn't hold back their tears. Therefore, the school held discussions with the Party Committee, the local government, and the parent association, and decided to build temporary shelters and organize meals for the students. Teacher Vo Anh Tuan said: "Honestly, organizing meals and accommodation for the students was very difficult for the school. However, we feel relieved to have accomplished this. The students have been able to eat nutritious and hygienic meals, allowing them to focus on their studies, which has contributed to changing parents' perceptions of caring for their children's education..."

I remember a few years ago, when I went to the highlands at the beginning of the school year, the young students were far from home, living in thatched huts with flimsy bamboo walls built haphazardly around the schools; their meals consisted of a handful of rice, a pinch of salt, a few green chilies, and some bamboo shoots... Now, returning to the same places, we see that the students' lives and studies have changed a lot. Almost all boarding schools, and even schools with boarding students, despite certain difficulties and limitations, now have housing, beds, blankets, and school supplies for the children to use. And more importantly, thanks to the government's policies to support students in disadvantaged areas, they now have delicious meals every day...

(To be continued)

Nhat Lan - Pham Bang