Prices are growing, portions – decreasing

This is the result of passing school meals in Tyachevo district to private firms, close to the deputy chairman of the RSA

"Rational and balanced diet is the basic condition for increasing children’s resilience to diseases, for normal growth and development" – says one of the Ministry of Health’s instructions. "Effective use of budget" – that is the main official criterion, which is taken as a basis for approaches to organization of children’s eating habits in educational establishments by Tyachiv district local authorities.

Getting more money – this is a real purpose of Tyachiv senior officials while "caring" for school lunches.

It is not the first year that the biggest Transcarpathian scandals concerning children’s lunches in schools have been related to Tyachiv district. Last spring, the joint committee of the regional council deputies, officials and educators found out that in some Tyachiv schools, children’s daily meal costs 36 kopiykas (0,36 UAH) a day!

But already beginning from January 1, 2011, as always, “decorated” by promises of good intentions "of the local budget cost optimization", Tyachiv RSA Education Board obliged schools to lease the premises of canteens belonging to another 15 secondary schools in the district to entrepreneurs.

However, the bureaucratic wording has not a slightest intention to care for taxpayers’ money, material and technical condition of school canteens or even the health of their own children. Since then, when in 2010 children’s lunches, which are funded by the state budget, and often from parents’ pockets, the "reforms" were adopted, Tyachiv schools haven’t been supplied by any new and modern equipment, not even a proper water supply system. The number of schools where children continue eating products from coffee shops – mostly elementary schools, hasn’t decreased either.

And most important: if a few years ago for a little money our children received high quality, high-calorie, varied food up to appropriate standards, nowadays for 6.5 UAH for one meal children get much "lighter" portions, because business entities include into the price fees for the consumed electricity and other energy resources, employees, taxes, cost of food delivery and what not.

People’s Deputy Petevka has appealed to the head of the regional administration Alexandr Ledida, Regional Attorney Anatoliy Petrunya, the head of SSU Vasiliy Sitar and chief physician Vladimir Markovich, demanding to immediately stop the abuse, shameless making money on the children by the start of the academic year, to provide full-value, high quality food for pupils, according to the standards approved by the government. For this is food that the health of generation depends on.