Kazan deputies proposed to increase lunchtime breaks in schools and expand canteens

(KZN.RU, September 27, Mikhail Chentsov). Today, the deputies of the Kazan City Duma in the course of the XX session decided to make a municipal program for the further development of the nutrition system in social institutions. The meeting was held in the Kazan Executive Committee under the conduction of Ilsur Metshin, the head of the capital of the RT. The increase in the time for lunchtime breaks, the expansion of canteens, and the providing school food units with necessary technological equipment at the design stage of schools and kindergartens are named among the activities that can be in the new program.

The main speaker on the topic was Guzel Ananieva, the director of the MUE “Department of Food and Social Catering”, who presented the results of the work to deputies. “Now we supply food in 650 preschool, 218 general education, 8 secondary special institutions, including 170 schools and 324 kindergartens in Kazan. The needs of a growing organism are taken into account when developing the menu of kindergartens and schools, only natural products are used in children dishes, with the same price for all categories of children”, she said.

G. Ananieva also drew the attention to the coverage percentage of hot meals for Kazan schoolchildren, which has grown significantly in recent years: from 61% in 2015-2016 to 71.4% in 2016-2017. “The total coverage of catering of Kazan schoolchildren in the last academic year was 92.4%”, she said. Guzel Ananieva outlined the need to increase school lunchtime breaks.

In addition, the director of the department noted that the menu assortment has significantly expanded in this school year. G. Ananieva marked that thanks to the internal reserves of the department, the enterprise entered the new school year without raising the prices for food, and its cost has been kept unchanged since April 2016.

Also, the speaker noted the project “School Restaurant”, which significantly promotes the healthy and proper catering. According to G. Ananieva, the project has fully justified itself for 5 years of work, but it still needs improvement.

Guzel Ananieva also spoke about the need to improve interaction with specialized educational institutions, with the students’ practice at the enterprises of the Department with subsequent employment.

The deputies of the Kazan City Duma asked the speaker a few questions that concern residents of the capital of the RT.

Taisa Chernova, the deputy chairman of the permanent commission for protecting the health of citizens and the environment, also said a few words about the organization of catering in kindergartens and school of Kazan. She noted that with the increase in the coverage of Kazan schoolchildren with hot meals, the group of the digestive system diseases has moved to 3-4 places in recent years, and the percentage of children with disabilities in physical development by weight and growth rates decreased by 1.5 times. “At the same time, the deputies have repeatedly noted that the introduced single menu should be expanded to take into account the characteristics of children, distribute it by dietary and sporting ways, by age. It is necessary to increase the time of food intake”, she shared her opinion.

Ilsur Metshin summed up the discussion. “As a result of our joint ten-year work, a single progressive children's catering system was created that meets all modern criteria and requirements of the Sanitary Rules and Regulations. There are no analogs of such a system in Russia. Once again I want to emphasize the most important results for us: reducing the illness of children, bringing the coverage of schoolchildren with the hot meals to 92%. We introduced free food for children from low-income families, thereby providing hot meals to every single category of them. We pledge annually for these purposes and will continue to provide funds from the city budget”, marked the Mayor.

At the same time, the Mayor of Kazan noted that over the years of implementation of the previous program there were problems with the supply of products, with personnel, with the organization of work, complaints from the parents about the quality of work. “However, together with the efforts of the Executive Committee, the Education Department, the Catering Department, we solved all the issues. Today, there are still unsolved problems and acute moments. I want to draw your attention to the fact that we are not stopping work in this area. And I ask the Executive Committee to develop a new municipal program, to carry out all the priority measures to improve the catering system in schools and kindergartens by broadening the existing experience to medical facilities in the city”, said Ilsur Metshin.

“Also I ask you to take into account in the further work the providing of the kitchen units with the necessary equipment during their reconstruction. I ask the Department not to stop the work on the variety of the menu taking into account the age of children, to strengthen the control over the quality of the delivered products in a dialogue with the parents' committees of our schools. I want to emphasize once again that there is nothing more important than the health of our children. And all our work is aimed at creating the necessary conditions for a healthy lifestyle. And this is a part of Kazan's development strategy for the future”, concluded the head of the city.