On behalf of the Head of State, starting in September 2023, free hot meals have been organized for primary school students for the first time. Measures to ensure the quality of nutrition in educational institutions were discussed at a meeting at the Ministry of Education with the participation of regional education departments, the Ministry of Health, and the Atameken National Chamber of Entrepreneurs.

Last year, the Committee for the Protection of Children's Rights of the Ministry of Education of the Republic of Kazakhstan implemented a number of measures to improve the quality of nutrition. The nutrition standards were revised, the requirements for the staff of the food department were tightened, the supplier's obligation to receive SES conclusions was introduced, and the accounting of recipients of free meals was automated. Schools have established mandatory daily quality control of food by screening commissions. Additionally, public control has been organized in all regions through interdepartmental expert commissions, including parents, representatives of public organizations and deputies of maslikhats.

In general, state control over the quality of nutrition is systematically provided by the territorial divisions of the Sanitary and Epidemiological Control Committee of the Ministry of Health. Specialists are working on the development and approval of a draft nutrition standard in educational institutions.

In turn, the National Chamber of Entrepreneurs called on the business community to show a high level of responsibility in organizing high-quality and safe nutrition.

After hearing the reports of the authorized state bodies, Minister of Education Gani Beisembayev instructed to update the composition of the marriage and interdepartmental commissions with the inclusion of representatives of regional chambers of entrepreneurs, update the algorithm of the commissions, as well as strengthen monitoring and control of all participants in the process. In case of systemic violations by suppliers, local authorities will be able to terminate contracts unilaterally.

Today, more than 1.7 million Kazakhstani schoolchildren are provided with free hot meals. More than 192 billion tenge has been allocated from local budgets for these purposes. Starting from 2025, it is planned to provide free meals to another 25 thousand students of private schools, for which the state additionally allocates 12 billion tenge.

Source : https://www.gov.kz/memleket/entities/edu/press/news/details/924604