"During the supervision carried out from January to June 2022, no school canteen was opened yet," KPAI commissioner Retno Listyarti informed here on Thursday.
The schools' rationale for not opening canteens was to keep students safe from COVID-19 transmission, she added.
However, many students interviewed during the supervision exercise said that they did not have time to eat breakfast and brought lunch from home, she pointed out.
Many students bought food from food vendors around the school on their way back home, the commissioner added.
The KPAI called for the reopening of school canteens on the condition that they meet the seven criteria laid down for canteens, which are considered important since a number of regions have implemented face-to-face learning at 100 percent capacity and normal study hours like before the pandemic.
Besides the COVID-19 pandemic, the spread of acute hepatitis among children in various countries was another reason for schools to put off reopening canteens, Listyarti pointed out.
"KPAI encourages all parties to ensure that school canteens are clean and healthy to protect children from the transmission of COVID-19 and acute hepatitis," she stressed.
According to her, ensuring the cleanliness and safety of school canteens is easier than managing the cleanliness and safety of vendors outside schools.
In addition, Listyarti said that KPAI is urging Health Offices across the country to disseminate information about clean and healthy canteens among teachers and students.
The criteria for a healthy canteen include ensuring the availability of washing facilities, hand-washing facilities with clean running water, clean water storage, foodstuff storage, cooked food storage, eating utensils storage, and the distance between the canteen and the temporary waste dump site (TPS) is at least 20 meters.
Related news: School canteens banned from opening to tackle acute hepatitis
Related news: Drug dealer in S Kalimantan uses school canteen to sell drugs: Police
Translator: Indriani, Raka Adji
Editor: Suharto
Copyright © ANTARA 2022
