Nearly 55,000 Tra Vinh children enjoy school milk programme

Since May, nearly 55,000 preschool children and primary students in Tra Vinh Province have started to drink milk at their schools under the Provincial School Milk Programme (SMP) deployed in cooperation with Vietnam Dairy Products JSC (Vinamilk).

Students at Tan Son Primary School, Tra Vinh Province are excited about drinking milk at the campus.
Students at Tan Son Primary School, Tra Vinh Province are excited about drinking milk at the campus.

Double the fun at school

After a long break due to COVID-19, students in Tra Vinh joined the fervour of children nationwide as they returned to school. More specifically, local students also received another joyful boost in their first days back to class, that is drinking milk at the school under the provincial SMP.

After Ben Tre, Hau Giang, and Vinh Long, Tra Vinh was the fourth province in the Mekong Delta to implement an SMP worth nearly VND30 billion, providing more than 4 million boxes of milk for 55,000 local preschool children and primary students. Vinamilk was selected as the milk supplier and organiser for the programme by a public bid. Similar to the ongoing socialised SMP projects, Tra Vinh and milk suppliers will support 30% of the cost, while students’ parents only have to pay the remaining cost for one box of milk. Children in near-poor and poor households will have 100% of the milk’s cost covered, of which the State budget is supporting 100% for the children of the near poor and Vinamilk is supporting 100% for children from poor households.

Although this is the first time the SMP has been implemented in Tra Vinh, the programme has received the warm support of parents, teachers and especially students. Kim Sam Nang, a parent whose child is enjoying the milk said that at first, he was quite worried the first days his child returned to school. Previously, his child did not drink much milk, but now the student has been able to drink milk regularly at school, so he is assured that his child is fully provided with nutrition.

A teacher offers milk to students on the first day they started drinking it under the school milk programme.

Ngo Quoc Hien, a teacher at Tan Son Primary School in Tra Vinh Province said: “As the homeroom teacher, I found the programme was very practical and valuable to students in remote areas because the programme supports disadvantaged students, while it is also a great motivation to help them improve their health for the future."

“At home I don't drink milk often. I really like to drink milk at school because it is delicious and I can enjoy it with my friends. After finishing drinking, my friends and I fold the boxes and arrange them neatly before putting them in the trash,” said Pham Duong Truc Ngoc, a student at Tan Son Primary School.

Good preparation to ensure students’ health and safety at schools

Thanks to the close guidance of the provincial Department of Education and Training, local schools have done well in teaching and learning long-term epidemic prevention under the Government's policy. At the same time, the implementation of SMP has also been carried out in a good manner, helping supplement nutrition and improve health resistance for students during this period.

In order to ensure the smooth and effective implementation of the programme, the Department of Education and Training of Tra Vinh Province has cooperated with Vinamilk to organise training courses for more than 1,100 delegates including administrators, health workers, accountants, teachers and representatives of parents' associations from 276 kindergartens and primary schools in the province. Previously, the Tra Vinh Centre for Disease Control conducted a communication campaign about the benefits of the SMP to spread basic knowledge to families on improving child malnutrition at the preschool and primary education levels.

Tu Minh Lap, Principal of Tan Son Primary School, shared: “The SMP, with the support of the State and businesses, has helped students improve their health and stature, thus assisting them in their studies. We have been active in developing plans, organising the implementation and mobilising students’ parents to propagate the interests of the programme and coordinate with the school to implement the project. Parents have agreed to let their children drink milk. They also realise the benefits of the programme, that is not only helping students enjoy good milk but also reducing the financial burden on their parents.”

Students are instructed to wear face masks in crowded places and wash their hands before entering the classroom.

In recent years, Tra Vinh has always paid attention to implementing malnutrition prevention and control programmes for local children. Thanks to that, the underweight malnutrition rate has dropped to 7.79% and stunting malnutrition has decreased to 10.14% by the end of 2018, according to the statistics from the provincial Centre for Disease Control.

Nguyen Quang Thai, Director of Community Activities Development from Vinamilk, said: “With the humanitarian meaning and practical benefits, through the SMP, Vinamilk not only contributes to bringing nutrition to and giving children the opportunity to maximise both of their physical and intellectual development, but it also brings the joy of drinking milk at school to them, so as every day going to school with children is a happy day, making them ready to learn useful things.”

Also during the first days after the students returned to the school following the COVID-19 break, the SMP has also been implemented in Quang Nam Province in cooperation with Vinamilk. More specifically, 33,000 preschool and elementary students in six mountainous districts were offered with one box of fresh milk (180ml) at school five days a week and all completely free. Up until now, Vinamilk is the only company that has implemented the SMP in 22 provinces and cities across the country.