Nghe An Department of Education warns about mobile food trucks in front of school gates

Regarding the incident9 students had to go to the medical stationAfter enjoying the free drinks distributed in front of the school gate on the afternoon of March 17, Ms. Hoang Phuong Thao - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Vinh City said that the unit highly appreciated the school's handling of the situation.

"The incident happened in the early afternoon, some students did not stay for lunch and received free bottles of water and called other students to come and receive them. However, the school's Board of Directors was very proactive in handling the situation quickly and promptly, so the number of students receiving and using the drinks was not much. Those with stomach aches were taken to the medical station for monitoring, and by the end of the day, their health was stable and they were picked up by their families," said Ms. Thao.

Principal Tu Thi Thu Huong promptly stopped students from using free drinks. Photo: Tien Hung

The Department also directed Quang Trung Primary and Secondary Schools to report and coordinate in providing information to the ward police for verification. At the same time, it notified all schools in the area to remind students not to use drinks outside of school.

The police invited the group that distributed free drinks to the ward to work. Photo: CACC

Ms. Thao believes that students, especially those in primary school, do not yet understand which drinks are good or bad. Therefore, local authorities need to have strict control, not allowing strange units to arbitrarily distribute food and drinks to students in front of the school gate.

According to Ms. Thao, recently, there have been a number of units and companies that have applied to distribute free milk to primary school students in the area. For these units, the Department requires a letter of introduction and approval from the Department of Education and Training. The milk company must have quality inspection and complete legal documents to work with the school.

This afternoon, while the car was handing out drinks at another school gate, the police invited it in for questioning. Photo: TH

Mr. Nguyen Trong Hoan - Chief of Office of Nghe An Department of Education and Training said that after learning about the incident through Nghe An Newspaper, the Department has directed the Department of Education and Training to thoroughly inform all students in the city, to propagate to them, and to remind students not to buy or use drinks outside the school gate. Second, it is necessary to coordinate with local authorities to promptly detect, prevent, and even report and arrest if the sale of food and drinks affects students' health.

A fast food cart in front of the school gate. Photo: Nhandan

“In addition, it is necessary to direct schools to coordinate with companies to ensure safe drinking water for students. Or build water filters to avoid the situation where students, for many reasons, cannot bring water to school and have to go to the school gate to buy it,” Mr. Hoan said.

According to Mr. Hoan, this is an issue that the Nghe An Education Department has repeatedly warned units about. “In fact, through the reflection of the people and some schools, especially in the town areas, there are carts with out-of-province license plates selling goods in front of the school gates. Mainly soft drinks and fast food that are very attractive to students. This problem causes several contents. That is, it is unsafe, school security and does not ensure food safety and hygiene,” Mr. Hoan emphasized.