Many positive signals after 2 months of implementing the Hanoi School Milk Program
(Baonghean) - After more than 2 months of the School Milk Program being implemented in kindergartens and primary schools, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training said that the number of students registering to participate is increasing day by day. The quality of milk along with professional operation has multiplied the trust of parents and society in this program.
More than 87% of students participated
At the seminar "Journey of safe and effective school milk" organized by Vietnam Women's Newspaper, Mr. Pham Xuan Tien - Deputy Director of Hanoi Department of Education and Training said: By the end of February 2019, after 2 months of Hanoi's School Milk Program officially being deployed in kindergartens and primary schools in the city, over 87% of students had registered. This number increased every month and by this March, although statistics have not been collected, it has increased significantly. Doubts about milk quality have decreased significantly after parents learned that the winning milk brand is Vinamilk. "I receive daily messages from schools about the effectiveness of the program. Many principals told me that although implementing the program was a bit more tiring, they were very happy to see their students benefit," Mr. Tien shared.
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| Teachers are preparing milk for children participating in the School Milk Program at a school in Hanoi. Photo: PV |
The biggest attraction of this program is not only the product is supported by more than 50% of the price, but according to Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Thi Nhung - Head of Nutrition and Occupational Department, National Institute of Nutrition, is the quality of school milk. In addition to strict standards on nutritional ingredients like milk sold on the market, school milk is supplemented with 3 micronutrients: vitamin D, calcium, iron with careful research on dosage to supplement appropriately for preschool and primary school children.
Ms. Dao Thi Thanh Thao - Vice Principal of Sai Son Kindergarten, Quoc Oai District, Hanoi confided: "Because it is located in the suburbs of Hanoi, the school has many separate locations, many parents still do not consider milk as an essential nutritional component in their children's daily meals. Some other parents are wondering whether 3-year-old children can drink the entire 180ml carton of milk or not... However, when the School Milk Program was implemented in practice, parents came to supervise, directly watched their children drink milk at school many times and saw the children enthusiastically drink it all, the parents were also very excited". Therefore, according to Ms. Thao, after only 2 months, more than 95% of children from preschool to kindergarten at the school voluntarily registered to drink school milk.Many parents shared at the seminar and on many forums for parents of preschool and primary school children in Hanoi, sharing a common feeling of "relief" when they learned that Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company - Vinamilk was the winning bidder to supply school milk products.
Ms. Le Thi Nhung, a mother whose child studies at Trung Vuong Primary School, Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi, said she was completely assured about the quality of the milk, only having a small question about why her children were not allowed to bring school milk home to drink.
Responding to this concern, Mr. Pham Xuan Tien explained that requiring students to drink milk at school is to ensure that they drink enough milk distributed daily under the witness of teachers, to avoid the situation where students keep the milk and take it home and then not drink it or give it to friends, thus losing the meaning of the program.
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Parents have the right to "sue" if they are not registered for school milk for their children.
Mr. Pham Xuan Tien said: “In the early days of implementing the School Milk Program, the Department of Education and Training noticed that some non-public schools in the area, despite their large scale, did not allow parents to register to use school milk. The reason given by these schools was that the school’s meals for parents had long included milk, so the school did not see the need to notify parents about the School Milk Program.”
However, according to Mr. Tien, this is completely wrong. The school's failure to notify parents has deprived students of the opportunity to enjoy the very humane incentives of the program. Specifically, each box of school milk is supported by the city budget at 30%, the enterprise supports 23% and parents only have to pay 47% of the cost of the milk box compared to the market price. Moreover, school milk is also supplemented with 3 essential micronutrients for children's development.
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| After 2 months of Hanoi's School Milk Program being officially implemented in kindergartens and primary schools in the city, over 87% of students have registered to participate in the program. Photo: PV |
Mr. Le Van Duc - Head of Community Communications Department of Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company - Vinamilk, on behalf of Vinamilk, thanked the close cooperation of schools in the past time and the trust of parents in Vinamilk, which is a great motivation for Vinamilk to make more efforts in implementing the School Milk Program in Hanoi in particular and the whole country in general.
In particular, Mr. Duc affirmed that Vinamilk will continue to implement the program with the highest sense of responsibility to bring a safe and effective School Milk Program to children in the capital. "We have committed to the investor, the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, that when we receive any feedback related to school milk, after receiving the notification, we will have personnel come to review and handle it promptly," said Mr. Duc.
Beneficiaries of the School Milk Program of the Hanoi People's Committee are preschool children and primary school students studying at educational institutions in the area who voluntarily participate.
The planned contribution level for the School Milk Program is 30% from the budget, 23% from businesses, and 47% from parents.
Before the School Milk Program was officially implemented in schools (from January 2, 2019), Vinamilk and the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, and the District Education and Training Offices conducted 10 consecutive days of training across 30 districts in Hanoi for nearly 10,000 delegates including: Board of Directors, teachers, and representatives of parent associations from 1,847 public schools and 2,509 groups of children to provide necessary professional knowledge related to the implementation of the School Milk Program.
