Inspectors everywhere identified discrepancies between prepared dishes and technological documentation. In other words, the products were not delivered. In one of the Minsk gymnasiums, children were fed pilaf, in which the lack of meat was 75%. Pilaf made from just rice.

It is quite possible that the meat saved on high school students was used for someone’s personal purposes, for more satisfying pilaf.

In the cafeteria of one of the Minsk schools, 2.5 kg of pork shoulder and 3 kg of minced pork were found hidden in the washing room.

2. Do not comply with established standards

Before planning an exact diet, an approximate two-week menu is drawn up, which should provide the child with sufficient calories and vitamins and microelements. This is a known fact.

But is this possible if KShP is on the menu(school food plant - editor's note)) Frunzensky district of Minsk average fish consumption in day was 30% of the norm, fruit - 40%, juice - 30%, sour cream - 45%? But the consumption of pasta, cereals and legumes was almost 1.5 times higher.

3. They feed you sausages.

The menu of the Partizansky District KShP exceeded the norm for sausage products in the children's menu by 14%.

4. Use expired products

Everything is serious. For example, in the buffet of a Minsk school there were 11 different dishes that had expired - salads, sandwiches, jellies.

Photo source: baltnews.ee

And in Vitebsk, 700 kg of cakes were discovered that were made from expired products. In the capital's gymnasium, rice porridge, which should have been thrown away, was simply frozen. And at the Borisov secondary school, meat, poultry and yeast were stored, which became unusable 3 months ago.

5. Cash accepted

Another problem with school canteens and buffets is the acceptance of cash for meals from parents. As a rule, schoolchildren give money to teachers, and teachers give money to canteen workers. And all without receiving a check and, most often, without cash register equipment and payment terminals.

Money that is not recorded anywhere can end up in different pockets. The controllers said that on the day of monitoring the acceptance of money in one of the Minsk gymnasiums, the revenue was 70% more than the previous day. The situation repeated itself tomorrow. What do you think, if the controllers had not come, where would this 70% of revenue have ended up?

6. They set exorbitant prices for their products.

There is no single approach to catering: each owner has his own school or education department. The price of the same product in different places in Belarus can vary surprisingly.

For example, in the Vitebsk, Grodno, Minsk and Mogilev regions, the level of trade markups on raw materials was not limited - school catering markups were applied to freely formed retail prices. This allowed organizations that provided catering services to schools to freely set prices. Sometimes trade markups on raw materials - and this does not take into account the wholesale markup - exceeded the maximum permissible level (15%), and in some cases reached almost 200%.

A striking example. KShP was supplied with 300 kg of raisins at 6.49 rubles per kg, with the opportunity to buy from the importer at 2.50 rubles. KShP Frunzensky district set the retail price at 7.46 rubles. It turned out that the maximum possible increase of 15% broke records and amounted to 198.3%.

Photo source: livejournal.com

How much will a raisin bun cost?

7. They buy food at exorbitant prices.

Gross violations have been established during government procurement of raw materials from intermediaries. Everything was bought at inflated prices. Thus, in April-May 2016, the education department of the Mogilev regional executive committee purchased cucumbers and tomatoes at prices twice as high as those from producers. The same department purchased cheeses that were 9-53% more expensive than it was possible to buy.

What are the conclusions?

Igor Karpenko, the Minister of Education, assured that all those responsible will be brought to justice, and the regulatory framework regarding the organization of school meals needs to be reviewed.

We will continue to strictly control this issue; we cannot tolerate this state of affairs.

The results of the inspection by the State Control Committee were sent to the Prosecutor General's Office, and the State Control Committee's proposals for improving the situation in the organization of school meals were sent to the Council of Ministers and local authorities.

Are you satisfied with school or kindergarten meals?!

A number of schools and gymnasiums in Brest are conducting an experiment to introduce non-cash payments for children’s meals in school canteens. Now it covers seven educational institutions. It is planned that from the new year all schoolchildren in them will be transferred to non-cash payments (several parallels are currently participating in the experiment), and then all other schools will join it. The main goal of the innovation is to eliminate the circulation of cash in the education system and free the class teacher from the unusual work of collecting money and filling out nutrition reporting documentation, writes “Evening Brest”.

At the moment, for non-cash payments through the ERIP (Unified Settlement and Information Space), Brest schools use two platforms: schoolPay and IPay. The first was offered by BitArt LLC based on the schools.by service, the second by IPay JLLC. At the end of the school year, the education departments, together with the Public Catering Plant, which organizes meals for children in Brest schools, will conduct an analysis and select the platform that best meets the requirements and interests of all parties.

“Each child is assigned a personal account. He is known to the child's parents, and they contribute money to him. The essence of both platforms is that in the morning the class teacher fills out an electronic ticket, in which he indicates only those who are absent, says Ekaterina Androsyuk, methodologist of the education department of the administration of the Leninsky district of Brest. — All children are already entered into the system indicating food benefits, if these benefits exist. A coupon is generated, the “send” button is pressed, and the coupon goes to the canteen. The canteen manager sees on her computer how many servings are needed, and these portions are served on the tables. Automatically from the personal accounts of children, in front of which there are no “enki” signs, money is debited to the account of the public catering plant. It is very important that the child’s account has a positive balance: the plant needs to purchase food to prepare lunches.”

What are the differences between the two non-cash payment systems?

The schoolPay system is hosted on the schools.by service. Brest schools have been working with this service for three years now: it is where electronic journals and diaries are located. Starting this year, payments for school educational services are also made through it: clubs, group and individual lessons in subjects, etc. The schoolPay platform allows parents to see the entire payment history and track the balance of their child’s personal account, and this is a definite plus. Every time a child eats lunch in the school cafeteria, the cost of this lunch is debited from the account, and the parents see it. The platform is being tested in gymnasiums No. 1, No. 5 and No. 6, as well as in school No. 22.

The IPay system is hosted on the service http://www.kshp.bel. The “minus” of this option is that only the class teacher can see the balance in the child’s account, who informs the parents about the need to make the next payment. For an additional fee, the Aggregator offers the service of sending SMS messages indicating that the child has had lunch. The IPay platform is now used in schools No. 3 and No. 8, as well as in lyceum No. 1.

In other schools in Brest, the “classic” option of transferring money through the child to the class teacher is still used to pay for meals. Its disadvantages are known to everyone - in the end, the child may simply “not bring” the money to school. But the key word here is “yet.” Education department specialists are confident that it won’t be long before non-cash payments for meals in school canteens will become as commonplace as electronic diaries are now...

To the point

Some schools in regional centers, in particular in Kamenets, where the education department is in charge of organizing meals, have also introduced non-cash payments for school meals starting from the new school year. It is carried out directly through the ERIP system via Internet banking. Each child is assigned a personal account to which parents transfer money via Internet banking. The money is immediately transferred to the account of the education department. The “minus” of this option is the same: the parent does not see how much money is left in the child’s account. The class teacher should monitor the balance and inform parents about the need to top up the account as it approaches zero.

Parents will pay for meals in Minsk schools through the ERIP system. About whether moms and dads will pay in advance or after the fact, whether ERIP takes a commission and whether you need to bring a check to the class teacher - in the questions and answers of TUT.BY.

When to pay?

— Recipient of payments — School nutrition plant. In order for the organization to be able to purchase the necessary products by the beginning of the school year, prepayment will be used. This means that in early September, parents will pay for the month in advance,” explains Oleg Chumakov, PR manager of the Non-Banking Credit and Financial Organization "ERIP". — Starting from October, payments will be made upon delivery, that is, after the end of the billing month.

How will payment be made technically?

By September 1, an information system was introduced in most schools in Minsk, to which class teachers have access.

“Each student is assigned an account number; his mom and dad will be informed at a parent meeting,” they say in ERIP. — This number is retained by the person until graduation and is never passed on to anyone else. Parents will transfer money for food to it.

There is no need to provide receipts to class teachers; teachers will be able to check the fact of payment online through their Internet account.

If I paid in advance, but the child got sick and did not come to school, what will happen to the money?

The Main Directorate of the Consumer Market of the Minsk City Executive Committee explains: the new information system is like the notebook or food log that was used before. Students' absences and debts will be noted here.

— Accordingly, if the child was not at school, this is recorded. As a result, the money for that day is not lost, but transferred to the next month.

Is there a commission when transferring money?

“There are no commissions,” he says. Elena Anthony, Chairman of the Board of the Non-Banking Credit and Financial Organization "ERIP". — Just as they are not charged for any other payments through ERIP, for example, for textbooks.

How and where can I pay?

You can pay for food through ERIP using mobile and Internet banking, at bank cash desks, at the post office, as well as through payment terminals and information kiosks.

To pay for school meals through ERIP, in the service tree, select:

System Calculation-> Minsk-> Education and development-> School feeding centers-> District-> Food.

For the second month, parents of Minsk schoolchildren pay for lunches through the ERIP system. During this time, the attitude of many mothers and fathers towards the innovation managed to change dramatically - from sharply negative to approving. Especially happy are those who are used to monitoring their expenses and checking their bills: just a couple of clicks - and you can see how much money is spent on feeding their children. Comfortable. But how did the system affect the work of schools and food factories?

It must be said that for parents the next school payment through ERIP was not a new thing. This is how people have been accustomed to paying money for textbooks and clubs for several years now: without additional fees or hassle. And those who pay all bills in good faith today answer that they are satisfied with the work of the system. But among teachers, at first the attitude towards technical innovations was, as teachers themselves admit, wary. Why? Firstly, for many, this method of paying for lunch seemed complicated and confusing. This is understandable; 10-digit student account numbers, checking accounts and other technical bells and whistles, at first glance, look like a jungle that still needs to be navigated. And the operation of the system itself from the start, of course, raised questions. Secondly, constant experiments with the school have already developed a deliberately skeptical attitude towards any, even very correct changes. But a month has passed - and the advantages, as more and more class teachers from various metropolitan schools note, are obvious: there is no need to fuss with cash, and parents can control every ruble spent without question. The director of Minsk secondary school No. 196, Natalya Burkevich, shares the same opinion:

Photo by Sergei LOZYUK.

The system may not be fully strengthened yet, but it will definitely happen. Undoubtedly, this method of payment is very convenient for parents, everything is transparent for school food factories. The class teachers at our school also confirm: it’s convenient. It is also good that schoolchildren can receive lunches on credit. But the main advantage is that there is no cash, and this eliminates many issues, even banal thefts.

When the idea first arose, school workers were most afraid of the additional burden on teachers, who need to mark students for lunch every day. But the class teachers soon came to the conclusion that with the help of modern means of communication they can quickly carry out the operations necessary for payment, including from a mobile phone. In addition, a computer was installed in the teachers’ room, with the help of which you can solve all the nutritional issues of your class at a time convenient for you. The proposal, says the director, quickly turned out to be in demand. And at the end of the day, the head of the institution takes readings for the day. In addition, a person has been appointed who constantly monitors all payments for meals from the school...

It would seem that the scheme is working, and schoolchildren are safely receiving their lunches on schedule. But the human factor traditionally adds a fly in the ointment to an initially good idea. Although the way we collect money for lunches has changed, one of the pain points has become even more acute: no matter how much teachers remind parents to pay money on time, there is still a debt. Moreover, they are growing steadily, because many mothers and fathers have decided to make the most of the fact that the child can borrow lunch at school. And away we go! Previously, a teacher could pawn her money for a fifth-grader who forgot to pay for food. Now school food factories have to deal with everything. They unanimously admit: working with the new payment system has become more difficult. “It turns out that we feed our children on credit and many parents, unfortunately, abuse this,” they answered the SB correspondent in several districts of the city at once. For example, representatives of the school feeding plant in the Leninsky district of the capital complain: after the introduction of payment through the ERIP, the debts became larger, and still some parents of schoolchildren have not paid for September. However, there are many such defaulters in every region.

Why? Often the reason is not so much a lack of funds as simple laziness, although all you need to do is press a couple of buttons, sometimes without even getting up from the couch, and transfer money to your account. Yes, they say in school nutrition centers, some parents carefully monitor the balance and replenish it on time, others approached the issue especially conscientiously: from the beginning of the year they deposited a large amount into their account, up to 200 - 300 rubles, supposedly for the months ahead. This, in fact, saves money along with money for free meals for schoolchildren, which organizations transfer on time. After all, you need to purchase products in advance and pay with suppliers... But “living on debt,” you must admit, cannot be eternal.

MEANWHILE

Don’t feed your parents bread, let them criticize the school meals. Quite a few moms and dads insist, “My child doesn’t want to eat school food!” But is she so bad? We turned to a professional with this question - Mikhail Lashukevich, production manager of the canteen of the capital's school No. 196. He has something to compare with: he has experience working in oriental cuisine restaurants, and for the last three years his main tasters have been children:

- The school menu is tasty and healthy. Of course, children love McDonald's more, but compared to it, we have the healthiest diet.

Parents often complain about the appearance of school lunches, saying that the child does not like what he sees on the plate - we broadcast a popular complaint to the cook.

- What might the cutlet look like? A cutlet is just that, a cutlet. Just like porridge. But we decorate each portion beautifully.

How do you feel about the fact that some children, on the contrary, are much more willing to eat school cutlets than homemade ones? Although at home, unlike the school menu you can add spices...

- My child, for example, does not like spices. He eats with great pleasure both at school and at home. In fact, any food is difficult to prepare. It’s easy to spoil a dish, even according to the recipe, but it’s much more difficult to cook it well. It all depends on the person: if he works with soul, then the result will be delicious.

Mikhail admits that he likes school food himself. And he willingly tastes everything cooked. But I couldn’t determine the children’s favorite dish. He says it all depends on taste preferences. Some people prefer salad, while others prefer casserole. But the chef’s signature dish, the school staff told us, is chicken with pineapple.