Almost 2,000 Ukrainians have taken out vouchers to learn the profession of a cook this year
24 October 14:23High-quality training of catering professionals is an important component of a successful school catering reform. This was discussed during a press tour of the Odesa region as part of the implementation of the school catering reform, Komersant ukrainskyi reports, citing the website of the Ministry of Economy of Ukraine.
During the tour, the participants got acquainted with models of catering for children and discussed the role of education in ensuring the required number of specialists and the impact on the economy. In particular, they visited the Odesa Centre for Vocational Education, which is one of three culinary hubs in the region. It trains students in the speciality of chef, as well as retrains school canteen staff.
According to Tetiana Berezhna, Deputy Minister of Economy of Ukraine, the government is currently working to systematically change approaches to the training and retraining of chefs, technologists and other professionals working in catering establishments. In particular, through the involvement of employers in the supervisory boards of vocational education centres, which will allow them to directly influence the training of specialists needed today, adjust curricula in line with the realities of the labour market, introduce modern methods, and strengthen the practical component of training.
As a reminder, the school catering reform in Ukraine was launched in 2020 at the initiative of First Lady Olena Zelenska. Its main goal is to provide schoolchildren with a balanced and healthy diet, as well as to promote a culture of healthy eating among children and their families.
What does the nutrition reform in kindergartens and primary schools envisage?
First of all, it is about changing approaches to the organisation of processes. In this regard, three innovative models are proposed:
Basic kitchen – involves cooking within the institution only for its pupils.
A hub kitchen – involves preparing meals for the school’s students and delivering lunches to neighbouring schools or kindergartens.
Factory kitchen – involves the preparation of food at a separate enterprise using Cook&Chill technology (cooling from the cooking temperature to about 3 degrees Celsius) and delivery to a large number of educational institutions. A pilot project of such a factory was set up in 2023 in Bucha, where more than 7,500 meals are prepared and delivered to 16 community institutions. The second plant is being built in Lozova, Kharkiv region.
Financial support for school meals reform
The state budget for 2024 provides UAH 1.5 billion for the implementation of projects to renovate school canteens and purchase relevant equipment.
Since October, the government has been providing free one-time meals to students in grades 1-4. For this purpose, at the initiative of the President of Ukraine, UAH 2 billion has been allocated from the budget for 2024, which will be transferred to local communities in the form of a subvention. Previously, hot lunches were provided only to privileged pupils, and the funding was covered by local budgets.
How it works
The mechanism for distributing subvention funds is approved by the Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine. The subvention can be used to purchase food, as well as to pay for catering and/or outsourcing services.
We would also like to remind you that the Ministry of Education, together with the Reforms Delivery Office, is working on the implementation of a new standard “Cook of an educational institution”. Starting from September, vocational education institutions in Ukraine will be training specialists according to the new state standard “Cook of an educational institution”.