The 38,000 VND lunch meal only has 3 boiled eggs, the cafeteria admits its shortcomings.

Accordingly, yesterday, October 31, Thanh Nien Newspaper published an article titled Ho Chi Minh City students reflect on boarding meals "not worth the price" in which it listed information from students, parents and readers about the quality of boarding meals at this school.

One student shared: "... my friend had just had braces, so he registered for a porridge meal at the boarding school. However, the kitchen ran out of porridge, so he boiled 3 eggs for his friend to eat with rice and soup. The student was upset because a 38,000 VND boarding meal only had 3 boiled eggs." Gia Dinh High School said that the school promptly grasped the information, worked with 2 students of class 12TN4, and grasped the incident through the report of the cafeteria and students. The school responded to the information as follows:

The two students said that on Wednesday (October 23), one of them had braces and was in pain, so he ordered porridge, but the waitress asked him to wait for the check. Then she reported that another student had mistakenly taken the porridge, and the waitress asked if he could have something else. The student suggested that he wanted eggs and soup with rice to make it easier to chew. His friend, who had braces, took a photo of only 3 eggs with his camera and expressed his indignation before posting it on social media.

The cafeteria admitted its shortcomings in handling the situation according to the students' preferences without reporting to the school's leadership, causing the students to make such requests and show their frustration, affecting the school's leadership and reputation.

The student also apologized to the school for his rashness and thoughtlessness.

The school leaders assigned to be in charge of boarding work immediately reviewed the boarding meals.

The school holds weekly meetings with suppliers to improve the food.

The head of Gia Dinh High School also said about the students' feedback that the amount of food was quite small, not enough for the needs of growing students, the menu was often repeated... "and even foreign objects such as worms and flies appeared in the soup, vegetables, and the rice was sometimes moldy". Ms. Khanh Van said: "The menu is always reviewed and finalized by the school leaders every weekend to implement for the next new week. Every morning, the school always sends school staff to directly review the output products, which are the students' food trays, promptly hold weekly experience meetings with suppliers to improve dishes and check the quantity of students' food portions".

The principal of Gia Dinh High School confirmed that the school has placed tables to divide extra salty food at fixed locations (rice and soup are available on the tables), students can come to get more food. On the trays, the food is divided just enough for the common eating needs of the majority of students to avoid waste. However, there are some students who, due to their health, physical exercise, playing or physical habits... will need to get more food, so they come to get it themselves and will be fully served.

Regarding supervision, the school has approved a plan to monitor school activities, including boarding activities of students. Periodically and suddenly, there are always representatives of the school, locality, students, and the Parents' Association to monitor the students' eating and sleeping process.

The school received absolutely no direct feedback from students or parents.

In response to the information that students and parents were upset that "they had reported to the school many times but it was still not resolved", Ms. Khanh Van asserted that "The school has absolutely not received any direct feedback from students or parents about the boarding meals". Ms. Khanh Van added: "Therefore, regarding the contents of the reflection such as: 'The menu is often repeated, there are times when we eat chicken 2-3 times a week, and even foreign objects such as worms and flies appear in the soup and vegetables, and the rice is sometimes moldy, the school has resolved it by removing leafy vegetables and only feeding vegetables and fruits; 'Oh my God, it's terrible. There is a lot of spoiled food'... if parents and students come to talk directly with the school's leadership or have a letter of reflection, we will work with our partners thoroughly and seriously to fix it immediately".

However, Ms. Khanh Van said: "There is an absurdity that "foreign objects such as worms and flies appear in soup and vegetables, and the rice is sometimes moldy; there is a lot of spoiled food". If this information is true, students at the school who are eating lunch at the boarding school could suffer from mass food poisoning".

Ms. Khanh Van also said that after receiving information from Thanh Nien Newspaper reporters, the school immediately convened a school board meeting with all 15 members in attendance so that the Principal - Chairman of the School Board - could report on a number of issues, including feedback on the boarding meals.

In response to Thanh Nien Newspaper reporters, Ms. Van also explained that when reporters contacted her to inquire about information, she was asked: "Please confirm the truth, why do you know it's parents and students", "Please give me proof first. I found it on the forum and it's not a student". The principal of Gia Dinh High School explained: "During this time, our school's leadership is having urgent work that needs to be handled on schedule and I myself have to attend many meetings and conferences, so I have not had time to arrange a suitable time to meet Thanh Nien Newspaper directly at the school. On the other hand, my text messages were sent urgently while I was in the middle of a meeting, so I could not fully express the idea I wanted to express, leading to a misunderstanding that we are not cooperating with your newspaper like that".

According to Ms. Khanh Van, finally, the school hopes that through the official information channel, Thanh Nien Newspaper, there will be accurate information provided to readers to guide public opinion, bring peace of mind to parents and especially students to be served quality meals, ensuring their health to study, practice, and play in a happy school.