The Cabinet of Ministers has changed the rules for financing school meals: what awaits students

The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine is improving the mechanisms for providing hot meals to primary school students. UNN reports this with reference to the Government portal.

"The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has adopted a resolution on the procedure for granting subventions for the organization of free meals for primary school students. The document provides for expanding funding opportunities and increasing the efficiency of the use of subvention funds," the statement said.

Among the main changes:

1. Expanding the list of educational institutions that receive subventions.

The program includes special general secondary education institutions and specialized education institutions. This means that funding will be allocated to all municipally owned schools with primary school students. Students studying under an individualized curriculum (pedagogical patronage) will also receive hot meals if they are in an educational institution.

2. Improvement of financial mechanisms.

Catering services (catering or outsourcing) can be provided by both private companies and community utilities.

Mandatory co-financing is provided: 70% of the cost of meals is covered by subvention funds, and 30% is covered by local budgets, international technical assistance, charitable contributions or other sources not prohibited by law.

3. Rational use of funds.

The subvention will not take into account students who already receive free meals by law (for example, children of victims of the Chernobyl disaster). This will reduce the risk of inefficient use of public funds.

If there are unused subvention funds at the end of the year, they can be used to purchase food to provide hot lunches for students on the first 10 school days of January of the following year.

4. Transparent cost formation.

The cost of meals for primary school students cannot exceed the cost of hot lunches for privileged categories of students in grades 5-11 (12). Such a decision will help ensure equal quality of nutrition for all children in an educational institution.

"Through these changes, the government seeks to expand children's access to quality hot meals and create conditions for the efficient use of public funds," the statement said.

Addendum

The Cabinet of Ministers has allocated more than UAH 2.6 billion provided by the European Commission to provide meals for children in schools.

Due to deficiencies in the procedure for using funds for meals for grades 1-4 in schools, financial difficulties arose between local and state budgets.