Street vendors - danger at school gates

Surrounding the school

After 4pm, street vendors rushed to the gate of Hong Son Primary School (on Le Mao Street, Vinh City). To get a good position, the stall owners were in a hurry. The middle-aged woman arrived early, luckily got a position right next to the school gate and immediately smiled smugly. Immediately, this person busily displayed food items, which at first glance were quite eye-catching. This is a familiar image in front of the gate of Hong Son Primary School as well as other schools in Vinh City for many years.

The street vendors here sell all kinds of food and drinks that students love. From milk tea, iced tea to fried fish balls, meat balls, hot dogs, french fries, fried chicken, sausages... In just a few minutes, the mobile street vendors had surrounded the school gate. At exactly 4:30 p.m., when the school bell rang, groups of students who had just stepped out of the school gate immediately rushed into the stalls. There were groups of students who bought food out of their own pockets, taking advantage of the opportunity to have a quick bite before their parents came to pick them up. There were also students who were brought directly by their parents to buy food, after insisting. The buyers and sellers looked very busy, causing the crowd to spill out onto the road. Vehicles passing by at this time had to jostle.

Street stall in front of Hong Son Primary School. Photo: Tien Hung

Not only were there mobile stalls on carts, when the school gate opened, many motorbikes carrying street vendors also appeared immediately. Quickly carrying heavy boxes from the vehicle, a man in his 40s quickly held bottles of soft drinks in his hands, directly greeting each student.

The most popular stall was the one selling fried food. According to the reporter's observation, in just about 30 minutes, this person had sold to more than 100 students. It seemed that the students already knew the prices of all kinds of snacks, so they didn't need to ask for prices. With money in hand, the seller almost didn't need to give change. Therefore, the buying and selling was even faster. After about half an hour of bustling, when the students had gradually dispersed, the stall owners hurriedly pushed their carts to another place, leaving behind a messy scene right in front of the school gate.

Cake stall waiting for students to leave school. Photo: Tien Hung

Need more drastic intervention

Similarly, at Hong Son Primary School, Dinh Cong Trang Street right in front of Le Mao Primary School (Le Mao Ward) often has mobile food stalls selling to students. Every time school is out, buying and selling is very busy. At a fried food stall, just by observing with the naked eye, it is easy to see the concerns about food hygiene. When the man preparing the food does not wear gloves or a mask. Meanwhile, the oil in the frying pan seems to have been used many times, turning black; and the ingredients are placed in dirty plastic containers.

“It looks like this but it is guaranteed to be very hygienic, don’t worry. I have been selling for many years, and no student has ever had any problems eating it. We have proper food hygiene and safety certification,” the street stall owner boasted. However, when we asked which unit certified the food hygiene and safety, he did not say, but just forced a smile.

Grocery store in front of Le Mao Primary School. Photo: Tien Hung

Not only are there mobile stalls, in front of Le Mao Primary School there are also many grocery stores selling all kinds of food and toys for students. The items are displayed and sold all over the sidewalk. This school is also the place where a poisoning incident occurred, causing 6 children to be hospitalized after using toy guns purchased in front of the school gate. Immediately after the incident, the authorities inspected and discovered that this grocery store was selling goods of unknown origin. However, after requiring a temporary closure and imposing a fine of 400,000 VND, a few days later this store was open again. After school, students still crowded around to buy goods, as if nothing had happened.

Ms. Pham Thi Truong Giang - Principal of Le Mao Primary School said that selling goods in front of the school gate is one of the school's concerns. Therefore, the school has repeatedly proposed to the local authorities to inspect and handle the matter. "As for the school's responsibility, we can only increase propaganda for students and parents. To limit students from buying goods in front of the school gate, we do not open the gate during recess. In addition, there is a rule that students are not allowed to bring money with them to avoid arbitrarily buying goods that are not guaranteed," Ms. Giang said.

Nghi Tan Ward Police (Cua Lo Town) inspected a grocery store in front of the school gate after a student was poisoned in Vinh City. Photo: CSCC

Similarly, at Quang Trung Primary School, the school also has a headache because of concerns about the quality of the products sold right in front of the school gate. "We have to constantly monitor, because of the experience of the last time, every time I see a street vendor coming, I report to the authorities to immediately chase them away," said Principal Tu Thi Thu Huong. However, after being chased away at this school, they moved to Quang Trung Secondary School right next door and continued selling.

Quang Trung Primary School is also the place where many children were hospitalized after consuming free drinks distributed in front of the gate. Ms. Huong said that not long ago, a group of people in a car stopped in front of the school gate to distribute free bottles of water to students. When the incident was discovered, even though it was not yet time for class, the principal still had to beat the drum to enter the classroom, asking the group to explain the reason for distributing free water, but they quickly left. In order to promptly prevent students from consuming the drinks, the school had to use a loudspeaker to call on students to hand over the water bottles. The result was 183 bottles of soft drinks with faded expiration dates. Just a few hours later, 9 fourth grade students in a class who drank bottles of orange juice showed symptoms of stomachache and nausea and had to be taken to the medical station.

Toy guns suspected of poisoning students. Photo: Tien Hung

Discussing this issue, Mr. Pham Ngoc Quy - Head of the Department of Food Hygiene and Safety said that food hygiene and safety work for street vendors in front of school gates is really worrying. Meanwhile, management work also has many shortcomings. “At the beginning of each school year, we send documents to localities requesting to strengthen inspection and supervision of this issue. Recently, we also sent a document to the Department of Education and Training to direct schools to pay attention. According to decentralization, this matter is managed by the ward and commune levels. However, many localities seem to be loosening the management of street vendors,” Mr. Quy said.

Some ward leaders said that inspecting and managing street vendors is difficult due to the lack of specialized staff in this field. “In fact, we also see shortcomings and are concerned about street vendors. But without expertise, it is difficult to prove food safety violations for handling. We can only inspect and then chase them away. But when the inspection team leaves, they continue to sell,” said a ward leader in Vinh City.

Regarding the poisoning incident at Le Mao Primary School, Mr. Nguyen Tam Ky - Chairman of the People's Committee of Le Mao Ward said that after the incident, the ward also set up a team to inspect grocery stores in front of school gates in the area. However, no further violations were discovered. Regarding mobile stalls, Mr. Ky said that in the coming time, the ward will increase inspection and handling.

Also after the incident at Le Mao Primary School and a series of other poisoning cases in many provinces and cities, some localities in Nghe An have also set up inspection teams at the stalls selling in front of school gates. Ms. Hoang Phuong Thao - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh City said that immediately after the incident, the Department notified the schools and requested them to warn parents. At the same time, the Department also reported to the People's Committee of Vinh City to request the wards and communes to strengthen inspection of the origin of counterfeit goods... especially the stalls at school gates.