MOE Working with Schools to Explore Diversity of Canteen Models

We thank Professor Teo Yik Ying (There's a food crisis silently brewing in schools in Singapore, 7 Oct) and other readers for their views on school canteens in Singapore, and share their belief in the importance of providing healthy, nutritious food in schools to support the well-being of our students.

All meals served in schools, whether through canteen stallholders, central kitchens or vending machines, must adhere to the Health Promotion Board's guidelines under the Healthy Meals in Schools Programme.

Schools are given autonomy to manage their canteens according to their needs. The Ministry of Education (MOE) provides pricing guidelines to ensure students have access to healthy and affordable meals, and these pricing guidelines are regularly reviewed to ensure that stallholders' businesses can keep pace with costs and remain sustainable.

In addition, students on the MOE Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) receive subsidies that pay for their meals in school. Students who need additional assistance, including those who are not eligible for MOE FAS, can approach their schools for school-based assistance.

Most schools currently have an adequate number of stalls to meet students' needs. Nonetheless, MOE is keenly aware of the stallholders' challenges in achieving affordability, nutrition value and income sustainability. While the rental in MOE school canteens is on average much lower, we nevertheless face competition for good stallholders from foodcourts, hawker centres and other public eating houses, which serve a wider customer base.

The suggestion to explore alternative canteen models – such as using central kitchens – is already an ongoing effort. Yusof Ishak Secondary School is one pilot where pre-ordered meal service is combined with central kitchen delivery. Students can collect their pre-ordered meals from a dispenser. These meals currently cost between $2.10 and $3, and are further subsidised for students on MOE FAS.

As we scale up such models, we aim to achieve better affordability, greater variety of food options and more assured service provision.

MOE will continue to work with schools to explore a diversity of canteen models to ensure students are well nourished and ready to learn. We are also thankful for the dedicated services of our many stallholders who have served, and who continue to serve, our students and staff through the years.

Ong Chun Kiat
Divisional Director, Infrastructure and Facility Services
Ministry of Education