Today in secondary school, №52 in Minsk Prime minister Roman Golovchenko hosted a meeting on realization of a pilot project on nutrition in schools.

The meeting was attended by the Minister of Education Andrei Ivanets, Minister of Health Dmitry Pinevich, Chairman of the Minsk City Executive Committee Vladimir Kukharev, as well as representatives of regional educational institutions, all relevant aspects of the implementation of a pilot project on nutrition in Belarusian educational institutions were discussed.

Let us remind you that 21 school (three in each region and three in Minsk) are taking part in the pilot project aimed to study food preferences of school students and enhance catering. This project began on December 19, 2022 and according to a plan, it is due to end on April 30, 2023.

“The pilot is going on for more than a month and we already have certain results. A recent opinion poll indicates that public reacts positively on the ongoing changes. There is a great demand in society on improving the quality of nutrition of schoolchildren and its organization. Feedback shows that school students like to be involved in these processes”, - says Roman Golovchenko.

“With the improvement of food ration kids began to eat better. We observe solid steps towards the expected target – delicious and healthy school nutrition. Thanks to this project, the foundations of children eating behavior can be laid and corrected” – adds the Prime Minister.

Roman Golovchenko stated that during the meeting departmental and regional representatives proposed to prolong the pilot until the end of the year. The decision was made today in favor of such a request and it will be fixed legally.

“We want to share the results in the end of a year all over the country. This is task #1. We see issues which must be improved and while bearing them in mind we will plan the distribution of the pilot to all schools,” said Roman Golovchenko.

The meeting also touched upon the issue of nutrition for teachers and other employees of educational institutions. Minister of Education Andrei Ivanets noted, “There are no problems with teachers' meals in any school in Belarus. The government has prepared a draft law of the Republic of Belarus on supplementing the Education Code with a norm that provides an opportunity for school employees to purchase hot meals according to the natural norms established for the nutrition of students. Payment for lunch, which is subsidized for children by the state, for teachers, payment will be made with a small multiplier. "Prior to the adoption of a legal act, this issue was settled by a joint letter from the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Antimonopoly Regulation and Trade," Andrei Ivanets explained.