Benefits of participating in the School Milk Program

As of February 2019, 1 million students in kindergartens and primary schools in Hanoi have registered to participate in the School Milk Program. This is an impressive signal when this program has only been officially deployed for 2 months.

Mr. Pham Xuan Tien, Deputy Director of the Hanoi Department of Education and Training, said that this number will continue to increase in March because some non-public schools in the area have only now fully understood the humanity of the program and have begun to promote and notify parents to register.

"Statistics from schools show that after the program officially came into effect, the number of registrations only tended to increase and did not stop," Mr. Tien informed.

Teachers at a Hanoi primary school carefully check the quality of milk before distributing it to students participating in the school milk program. Photo: PV

In fact, right from the beginning of the program, parents were clearly informed that they could register their children to drink school milk at any time or, conversely, they could stop at any time if they had any concerns or worries. So what makes millions of parents in Hanoi satisfied and respond to this program?

Pay less than 50% of market price with quality controlled milk.

All parents admitted that when participating in the program, the first humane incentive they received was price support. Specifically, each box of school milk is supported by the City budget at 30%, businesses at 23% and parents only have to pay 47% of the selling price of a box of milk compared to the market price.

Associate Professor, Dr. Bui Thi Nhung (Head of Nutrition and Occupational Department, National Institute of Nutrition) also has assessments on the quality of school milk: In addition to strict standards on nutritional ingredients similar to 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.

Many parents at the seminar and on many forums for parents of preschool and primary school children in Hanoi shared 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. This means that the quality of milk is always strictly monitored and strictly censored.

No need to rush to prepare milk for your child to go to school

The beneficiaries of the School Milk Program of the Hanoi People's Committee are preschoolers and primary school students studying at educational institutions in the area who voluntarily participate. These are children who need to receive more attention and monitoring from their parents to ensure that their meals are nutritious enough at school.

And the School Milk Program has done that meaningful thing: contributing to forming children's habits and love for milk with school milk without parents having to closely follow up to remind and prepare for their children every day. However, parents are still the ones who supervise the implementation of the School Milk Program, but this job is "lighter" and much more professional.

Mr. Pham Xuan Tien, Deputy Director of the Department of Education and Training of Hanoi City, affirmed that parents only need to notify and register with the functional department of the school their children are studying in order to perform their supervisory role in all stages, from delivery, preservation to organizing daily milk for children.

Ms. Dao Thi Thanh Thao, Vice Principal of Sai Son Kindergarten, Quoc Oai District, Hanoi confided: "Because the school is located in the suburbs of Hanoi, there are many separate locations, many parents still do not consider milk as an essential nutritional component in their children's daily meals. Some other parents wonder whether a 3-year-old child can finish a 180ml carton of milk or not?...".

However, when the school milk program was actually implemented, parents came to supervise and directly watched their children drink milk at school many times and saw the children enthusiastically drinking it all, the parents were also very excited.

Drinking milk with friends, folding paper boxes together: Cultivating environmental protection awareness from an early age

According to Mr. Le Van Duc - Head of Community Communications Department, Vietnam Dairy Products Joint Stock Company - Vinamilk, in addition to the quality of school milk, the Program also equips students from preschool and primary school age with environmental protection awareness through instructing them to fold milk cartons after use and collect and dispose of waste.

In addition to drinking milk with friends, students are also trained in environmental protection awareness from the simplest things: After drinking, milk cartons will not be thrown into the trash but will be neatly folded by the children. "Folding milk cartons is a group relaxation activity, the children really like it. I go to many kindergartens and primary schools and pay attention to see if students throw milk cartons around or not, and I am very happy that this phenomenon no longer exists" - Mr. Pham Xuan Tien shared.

With over 50% price support (30% from the state budget, 23% from businesses), parents only spend less than 50% for each box of school milk. Photo: PV

Confirming this, Ms. Lan Anh, a parent whose child is at Linh Dam Practice Kindergarten, Hoang Mai District, Hanoi, said: "My child used to not like milk, but now he has changed, reminding his parents to buy milk for him to drink in the evening and on holidays when he sees that the house is out of milk. Moreover, preschool-age children, who were often forced by their parents to hold the milk carton for them to drink, now drink it themselves and even fold the milk carton after drinking and put it in the trash. "Those are the meaningful values ​​that I see the School Milk Program has brought"./.