I. Metshin: “The school food system was created 10 years ago, and what was relevant then requires adjustment today”

(KZN.RU, May 17, Ksenia Shvetsova). To the beginning of the new school year, it is necessary to correct all the flaws revealed in the course of test meals in Kazan schools. Ilsur Metshin, the Mayor of Kazan, gave such an instruction at the meeting with the directors of educational institutions, which was held at the school №179 in the Novo-Savinovsky district. By the new school year, the school canteens will upgrade equipment for 45 million rubles, buy the missing dishes for 11 million rubles. The Mayor marked that the school feeding system created 10 years ago requires updating, adjusting and close attention of city authorities and school administrations.

Earlier, I. Metshin, together with Andrey Lobov, the head of the Vakhitovsky and Privolzhsky districts’ administration, tasted a complex lunch in the canteen of the Tatar school №1.

The meeting began with a speech by Evgeny Varakin, the head of the Staff of the Executive Committee. He reported on the first assessments of officials who dine in school canteens since April. At the last meeting, the Mayor of Kazan instructed to form a group of employees of the Executive Committee and the deputies who dined in school canteens and analyzed the quality of food in educational institutions.

“Evaluation of meals in school canteens began on April 23. According to the results of April, we summarized intermediate results”, said E. Varakin. “Employees assigned to schools filled out special report forms, where, in particular, they evaluated dishes on a 5-point scale. To improve the objectivity of the assessment, we dined in schools every day”, said the head of the Staff of the Executive Committee.

According to the way school meals are organized, educational institutions in Kazan are divided into 2 types: “lunch-box” (89 schools) and “cooked” (77 educational institutions). Each group was assessed separately.

In schools with a cooked food system, estimates were higher, most dinners were rated as “good” and “excellent”. In general, a solid score of “5” is given to 76 institutions, another 67 received a rating from 4.1 to 4.9 points. Serious flaws were revealed in 23 schools in Kazan, which were rated from 4 to 3 points, according to Evgeny Varakin.

“Our authorized representatives inspected all schools to help us analyze the situation. There were disturbing notes on school meals in the media and social networks. But it is important to understand that this is not a witch hunt, not a desire to find those in fault, but a desire to solve it”, I. Metshin explained. “After all, we created a school feeding system 10 years ago. What was relevant then, today requires adjustment and our attention. By September 1, all the flaws that have been revealed need to be corrected so that everything works right. We do not stop this work, the responsible representatives will continue to test meals in schools, including from September of the new school year”.

On behalf of the heads of districts Andrey Lobov, the head of the Vakhitovsky and Privolzhsky districts’ administration, made proposals for improving the school feeding system. To speed up the process of paying for lunches in elementary school, he proposed linking students' educational cards to one class card. “Students pay for meals through the terminal. Depending on the school, from 100 to 300 students dine at every break, - noted A. Lobov. “With one card, we can save time”.

The quality of school meals largely depends on the equipment and repair of canteens, said Rime Mukhamedshinam, the head of the Department of Food and Social Catering. This need is being closed by the department. For example, in 2016-2018, 115 million rubles were allocated for the repair and purchase of utensils and equipment, another 45 million rubles is planned to be invested this year, she noted. “The number of children in schools is growing, as a result, an increase in the capacity of school canteens is required”, explained R. Mukhameshina.

All schools in Kazan were built at different times. The oldest ones are already more than 160 years old, and the newest ones were opened this academic year, so food is organized everywhere differently, said Ildar Shakirov, the deputy head of the Executive Committee. Since 2013, the project “School Restaurant” has been implemented in Kazan. Today in Kazan, there are already 28 school restaurants with a comfortable modern interior and distribution lines according to the format of a buffet. “In order to have a comfortable interior in every canteen, a major overhaul or redecoration is necessary. 39 schools need overhauls of catering departments or dining halls”, he marked.

From April 1, 2016, on an experimental basis, employees of school kitchens from the staff of educational institutions began to move to the department staff. It affected the quality of school food. According to Ildar Shakirov, today, employees of 71 school out of 175 food schools are in the staff of the department. “The school principals, whose employees have moved to the department, unfortunately, have withdrawn from the control of the organization of food”, said Ildar Shakirov.

“We have created a department so that there is a single quality of product purchases. We have solved the task of replacing technical equipment. What makes you think that now school meals are an optional director’s responsibility?” I. Metshin asked the participants of the meeting. “This is, first of all, your responsibility. And, as the estimates show, you manage with it differently. There are schools where food is excellent under the same working conditions”, he addressed the school principals.

In general, the work of the department is highly appreciated by school leaders.

In 2006, the municipal program “Healthy catering for children” was developed in Kazan. A single school catering operator was created, the Department of Social Catering and Food, which began to provide schools with a full-fledged menu at one price.

Marina Patyashina, the head of the Federal Service for Supervision of Consumer Rights Protection and Human Welfare in the RT, presented data on the coverage of Kazan school children with hot meals. She particularly cited data on schools where training is organized in two shifts. Among the schools cited by the department, 18 schools have hot school coverage 80% and above. In 22 schools, no more than 59.9% of students receive hot meals, and from 60 to 79.9% in 21 schools.

“Less than 80% of hot meal coverage is unacceptable”, said the Mayor. “We have already passed a long road and this is not a question that we cannot solve. We will complete the canteens and buy the dishes. But the main result of today's meeting should be our joint decision on how we will move further. Summer should be used to solve all the issues. School meals should be worthy of our beloved children and the title of the capital of Tatarstan. We will work on this result together”.

For the next meeting, the Mayor instructed school leaders to prepare their proposals for improving the school feeding system.

Denis Kalinkin, the head of the Executive Committee, Rustem Gafarov, the first deputy head of the Executive Committee, Ilnar Khidiyatov, the head of the Department of Education, and others also attended the meeting.