Individual stall operations remain the primary operating model for school canteens

个别摊贩经营仍是学校食堂主要运营模式

谨答复《联合早报·交流站》于9月30日刊登的古嬿卉读者投函《学校食堂会消失吗？》：

我们感谢古女士的投函。

一些学校发现，即使租金低廉，也越来越难吸引摊贩入驻食堂的空置摊位，这主要是因为来自拥有庞大顾客群的食阁、熟食中心和大众餐饮场所的竞争。随着更多摊贩退休，以及愿意经营食摊的人数减少，这一问题在未来几年可能变得更加严峻。

配合我们持续探索可持续解决方案，以应对此类长期挑战的工作，教育部已与部分有需求的学校合作，推行"中央厨房供餐模式"。按照模式，学校食堂由单一业者管理。中央厨房业者须像目前的学校食堂摊贩一样，遵守保健促进局的学校健康膳食计划（Healthy Meals in Schools Programme）的准则。学生每天也将能享有丰富多样的食物选择。教育部会继续与学校合作，确保食物选项价格合理。

根据我们自2022年在尤索夫依萨中学推行的"中央厨房供餐模式"试点，它在缩短排队时间、确保餐食品质稳定、价格合理且营养均衡，以及减少对人力的依赖方面，已显示出可喜的成效。

个别摊贩经营仍是学校食堂的主要运营模式。教育部会继续支持学校吸引食堂摊贩，包括从能源市场争取优惠水电费率，并维持食堂摊位的象征性租金。

教育部会继续与学校合作，探索多元化的食堂模式，以确保学生获得充足营养，为学习做好准备。我们也衷心感谢众多摊贩，多年来为学生和教职员所提供的尽心服务。

(教育部基础设施与设施服务司统筹司长洪中仁）

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Individual stall operations remain the primary operating model for school canteens

We thank Ms Gu Yanhui for her letter, 'Will school canteens disappear?' (30 September 2025).

Some schools are finding it increasingly difficult to attract stallholders to fill vacant stalls in their canteens, even with low rental, due to competition from food courts, hawker centres, and public eating houses with a large customer base. This issue is likely to become more pressing in the years ahead, with more stallholders retiring and fewer people willing to operate food stalls.

As part of our continuous efforts to explore sustainable solutions to address such long-term challenges, the Ministry of Education (MOE) has been working with some schools with this area of need to implement the Central Kitchen Meal Model (CKMM). Under the CKMM, a single operator manages the school canteen. Similar to current school canteen stallholders, central kitchen operators must adhere to the Health Promotion Board's Healthy Meals in Schools Programme guidelines. Students will also be able to choose from a good variety of food choices on a daily basis. MOE will continue to work with schools to keep the food options affordable.

Based on our pilot of the CKMM in Yusof Ishak Secondary School since 2022, this model has shown promising results in shortening queue times, ensuring consistent, affordable and nutritious meals, as well as reducing reliance on manpower.

The individual stallholder system remains the primary operating model for school canteens. MOE continues to support schools in attracting canteen stallholders, including seeking favourable utility rates from the energy market and maintaining nominal rental fees for canteen stalls.

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 also wish to thank our many stallholders for their dedicated services in serving our students and staff through the years.

Ang Zhongren (洪中仁)
Divisional Director, Infrastructure and Facility Services Division (基础设施与设施服务司统筹司长)
Ministry of Education (教育部)