Sept. 8, 2025, 10:38 p.m.
(A school cafeteria in Kyiv. PHOTO: Yevhen Kotenko)
On Monday, September 8, schools in Mykolaiv started providing free meals to students in grades 5-11.
This was reported by MikVisti.
There are currently 64 schools in the city: 13 of them teach students completely remotely, the rest - in person or in a mixed format. Last year, only primary school students received free meals at the expense of a government subvention and co-financing from the city budget, but now all students are provided with free meals. The state covers the bulk of the costs (up to 70%), and the rest is covered by the city budget.
Last year, about 8,000 students received free meals ; this year, almost 21,000 have been provided with free meals : about 8,000 in elementary school, 9,000 in grades 5-8, and 4,000 in high school. Hanna Lychko, Head of the Education Department of Mykolaiv City Council, emphasized that the organization of the process creates an additional burden for the heads of educational institutions, as it is necessary to take into account the capacity of shelters and ensure that all children have time to eat during the school day.
In addition, Dmytro Vashnyak, acting director of the municipal production enterprise for school catering, noted that this year the menu includes updated dishes that meet the standards of the Yevhen Klopotenko system and are approved by the Ministry of Health.
Earlier, according to the results of an inspection conducted in <b>58 educational institutions, </b>most school canteens in the Mykolaiv region were not ready for the school year. The commissions recorded a number of serious violations. Many schools and kindergartens lack quality drinking water and hot water supply in canteens and bathrooms. In addition, the canteens lack the necessary equipment, such as refrigerators and kitchen appliances. It also turned out that not all employees had undergone mandatory medical examinations, and the four-week menu had not been properly approved, which casts doubt on the quality of the children's meals.
Катерина Глушко