A visit to 1/6 Kindergarten in Nam Lau commune leaves an immediate impression of a green, clean and orderly campus, with classrooms laid out efficiently and teaching and daily activities running with discipline. In the 2025–2026 school year, the kindergarten has 508 students, including 471 boarding pupils. The school has been equipped with modern facilities, including a boarding kitchen complex comprising three 60-square-metre cooking rooms fitted with industrial rice cookers, commercial stoves, meat grinders, cabinets and shelving, meeting standards for preparing meals for students.

Sung Thi Mua, deputy head of 1/6 Kindergarten, said the school employs four experienced kitchen staff and has contracts with reputable food suppliers with clear traceability. Every stage - from receiving ingredients to food preparation - is closely monitored in line with food-safety regulations, with three meals served daily from Monday to Friday. Menus are adjusted regularly by day and season and feature a wide range of foods, helping children enjoy their meals and support their all-round physical development.

Muong Bu Kindergarten in the commune of the same name operates nine campuses with 26 classes and 628 students this academic year, with 21 classes enrolled in the boarding programme.

Its deputy head Pham Thi Lien said kitchen staff receive professional training, are fully equipped with protective gear and undergo regular health checks. Food is sourced from reputable suppliers with clear origins, and all food-safety procedures are strictly followed. As a result, meals are nutritious, clean and safe, helping the school maintain full enrollment.

Across the province, 355 schools currently operate boarding kitchens serving more than 100,000 students, supported by over 1,400 canteen staff. Of these, 295 schools have developed menus in line with the Ministry of Health’s recommendations, ensuring age-appropriate nutrition, while 204 have rolled out the “nutritionally balanced school meal combined with physical fitness enhancement” model. Many schools have also proactively adopted software developed by the National Institute of Nutrition to design menus, helping ensure scientifically balanced nutrient intake in each student meal.

Alongside the standardisation of boarding kitchen systems, inspection and oversight remain a key focus for relevant authorities. Each year, the Food Safety Sub-Department, working with related agencies, conducts regular checks at schools offering boarding meals. All schools inspected are found to comply strictly with food-safety regulations, with complete legal documentation in place and facilities, equipment for food preparation and storage meeting required standards. Schools also consistently enforce the three-step food inspection process and food sample retention, while ensuring hygiene conditions such as protective clothing, masks, hair coverings, separate cooking utensils and pest-control systems.

Nguyen Van Chien, Director of the provincial Department of Education and Training, said coordinated implementation and sustained attention have delivered clear gains in school nutrition care. Currently, all children attending school undergo health checks and nutritional assessments based on World Health Organisation growth standards. The underweight malnutrition rate has fallen to 3.45%, stunting to 5.44%, while overweight and obesity account for just 0.09%. The sector continues to roll out programmes to further improve dietary quality and strengthen students’ physical activity.

Investing in boarding kitchens is both a solution and a critical requirement to safeguard student health, helping sustain enrollment, improve education quality and build a safe, supportive school environment. Nutritious and hygienic meals are providing students with the energy they need to study and develop holistically, laying the foundation for a higher-quality workforce in the future.