From May 12 to May 13, members of the Coordination Council: representatives of the ministries of health and social protection of the population, education and science, agriculture, finance, economic development and trade of the Republic of Tajikistan, as well as the SES, got acquainted with the organization of school meals in schools No. 35, No. 36 of the J. Balkhi and at schools No. 15, No. 23 of the Vakhsh district in the Khatlon region.
Council members talked to school headmasters, advising them on the issues of organizing school meals: how to properly develop a menu, how to provide a school with food using school farms, and much more.
According to the observations of the Council members, School No. 15 has become an excellent example of the organization of school meals in the region. The menu here is replete with an abundance of vegetables, legumes, greens, which adds vitamins and nutritional value to the school diet and, of course, benefits young schoolchildren. In 2018, SIFI, together with FAO, installed drip irrigation greenhouses at the school grounds. They grow tomatoes and cucumbers.
The rest of the school territory was also put into use: beans, greens, potatoes and pumpkins are grown here. Parents are also actively involved in organizing school lunches for their children, giving a certain amount of money each month to purchase additional products.
The next day, in the city of Bokhtar, Khatlon region, an exit meeting of the coordination council was carried out. The members of the Correspondent Council were joined by the Deputy Chairman of the Khatlon region (curator of the social sphere), heads of education departments of cities and districts of the Khatlon region, members of the Interdepartmental Coordination Council on School Feeding in the Khatlon region, WFP in Tajikistan and SIFI representatives.
The main topic of discussion was the implementation of the State Programme for the Development of School Feeding in the Republic for 2022–2027, approved by the Government on April 27 this year. The participants discussed possible sources of funding and the most optimal ways to implement the Programme.
Firuza Sharifi, Deputy Chairman of the Khatlon region, noted that the organization of school meals is part of the strategic task of the state "to ensure food security and access to quality food."
At the end of the meeting, the participants made their proposals for the development and solution of existing problems of school meals in the Khatlon region.