Volodin Demands Doubling School Meal Standards in Saratov Oblast

State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin criticized the organization of school meals in Saratov Oblast, calling it unacceptable. Following an analysis, he instructed regional and local authorities to urgently restructure their work.

Volodin«s key demand was an immediate increase in funding standards. He stated that their amount had not been reviewed for about six years, without indexing or co-financing.

«The amount must be revised: for elementary school – increase by 2 times, for grades 5 to 11 – by 1.5 times, and bring to a single standard,» emphasized the State Duma speaker.

Volodin promised to help in resolving this issue. He also pointed out the need for strict control over product quality and preventing unscrupulous suppliers, instructing supervisory bodies and responsible persons to take this under control.

«I believe that for all of us – this is a top priority issue. Let»s try to ensure that children receive quality hot meals in schools,« he noted.

Recall that since January 1, in rural schools of Saratov Oblast, meals have become free for all students. This support measure for local residents was also introduced in some cities of the region: Yershov, Krasny Kut, Krasnoarmeysk, Kalininsk, Petrovsk, Atkarsk, Arkadak, Pugachyov, Khvalynsk, Shikhany. Meanwhile, for elementary school students in all settlements, including major cities and the regional center, meals are free.

Last week, it became known that due to the organization of meals at School No. 9 in Balashov, director Andrei Ryzhkov was dismissed. He allegedly refused to feed children with low-quality products that a new supplier started bringing to the educational institution.

Later, it became known that other schools in the city are also experiencing problems with the supply of quality products. For example, cooks at Gymnasium No. 1 did not show up for work because their salaries were reduced and they started receiving stale products.

Deputy Head of the Balashov District Administration Andrei Nesterov, in a conversation with «Vzglyad-info», admitted that Ryzhkov was dismissed on the initiative of the municipality, as only in his school out of 38 in the district they failed to organize meals. He also admitted that low-quality products were delivered to educational institutions, but allegedly no one was fed with them, they were thrown away.