Free school meals - Lisovyi announces details of billion-hryvnia reform

The Minister of Education and Science of Ukraine, Oksen Lisovyi, spoke about expanding children's access to free hot meals in schools. He announced this on social media, as reported by UNN.

Details

According to the minister, 1.5 million students received free hot meals in the 2024-2025 academic year, and 2 million children in 2025-2026, including elementary school students in all regions and 1st-11th graders in frontline areas.

To achieve this, the state is consistently increasing funding: 2 billion hryvnias in 2024, over 7 billion hryvnias in 2025, and 14.4 billion hryvnias allocated for 2026. From September 2026, we plan to expand the reform and provide free hot meals to all students who study full-time or in a blended format.

He added that school infrastructure is being modernized in Ukraine.

1,600 food preparation units in general secondary education institutions have been updated, and modernization projects are ongoing in communities across the country, including in frontline regions. We are also creating new formats for organizing meals, including factory-kitchens, which can provide hot meals to dozens of educational institutions.

Lisovyi named the development of professional skills for cooks as a separate area of the Ministry of Education and Science's work – according to him, approximately 19,000 of them work in schools today. Almost 9,500 of them have already undergone training and advanced training in accordance with new standards.

At the same time, the minister noted that the reform is not only about kitchens, equipment, or menus, but also about the culture of nutrition.

School can teach children simple things that have a significant impact on health: why it is important to have breakfast, what a balanced lunch looks like, why it is worth choosing healthy food. To this end, the Ministry of Education and Science, together with the School Nutrition Reform Team, are creating educational materials – manuals, recommendations, ready-made ideas for lessons on healthy eating – for all participants in the educational process. Because healthy habits do not arise on their own – they are formed daily under the influence of the environment in which a child grows up, so the school can contribute to this through learning, extracurricular activities, and dialogue with parents.

Recall

Prime Minister of Ukraine Yulia Svyrydenko discussed with relevant ministers the current state of infrastructure and identified steps for the stable operation of the social sphere. This applies to medical institutions, schools, social institutions, and mobile kitchens.