The School Nutrition Lunch Corruption Scandal: An In-Depth Interview with Wu Chung-Tai
Prosecutors and investigators handling the corruption case involving school nutrition lunches at elementary and junior high schools in New Taipei City launched another round of summonses yesterday (2011.11.24). To date, this bribery case has resulted in the largest number of school principals detained in the history of education; investigators found that lunch services at multiple schools appeared to be monopolized by specific vendors, who bribed principals and selection committee members.
Because the scandals kept emerging, a principal in New Taipei City argued that "providing lunch is a service, not an obligation," and suggested letting children go home for lunch so that educational manpower could return to education itself, avoiding unnecessary suspicions in the procurement process. Education Minister Wu Ching-Ji angrily denounced this, saying, "Such a statement shows no educational conscience or compassion, and whoever says this is not fit to be a principal."
What exactly went wrong with nutrition lunches, and how should it be "handled"? Upstream-Downstream reporter Wang Wen-Hao interviewed Wu Chung-Tai, Secretary-General of the National Federation of Teachers' Unions, to discuss the many facets of school nutrition lunches from a teacher's perspective:
School Nutrition Lunch Is Public Policy, Not Merely a Family Matter
In the past, parents prepared nutrition lunches, letting children bring lunch boxes to school, and some parents paid lunch vendors or buffet operators out of their own pockets to deliver meals to the school for their children; these were all parental responsibilities. However, with the development of an industrial and commercial society, parents became extremely busy and paid a fee to entrust the school with arranging meals, with the school providing licensed group-meal vendors for parents to choose from. This turned the provision of nutrition lunches into something centralized, one-time, and mass-produced, which brought it within the scope of public policy.
Currently, 1/10 to 1/7 of nutrition lunch costs come from social donations or government subsidies, with the rest paid by parents. For elementary and junior high schools alone, nationwide nutrition lunch costs total between NT$14 billion and NT$15 billion a year; adding social donations and government subsidies, the figure reaches NT$17 billion to NT$18 billion. Because the profits are so large, market rules come into play, producing problems of low-price underbidding and vendor selection regulations.
Nutrition Lunch Should Be Open to Parent Supervision
Since nutrition lunch is public policy, it involves questions of whether operations are transparent and whether regulations are correct.
At present, in the selection of nutrition lunch vendors by each school, parents cannot serve as selection committee members, because the Public Construction Commission of the Executive Yuan believes that parents are not experts and cannot serve on selection committees. Although some counties and cities nominally allow parents to attend as observers, the number of seats is very small and parents are easily influenced, because they are a minority.
The number of participants on school nutrition lunch selection committees and how they are chosen both affect the selection results. The corruption that broke out in New Taipei City this time was precisely due to the opaque operation of the selection committee and the small number of members, which made it easy for principals to manipulate.
Local elected representatives are another source of pressure. Because principals seeking subsidy funds, or hoping not to be attacked in the council, will yield to a minority of self-serving representatives, allowing a specific group-meal company to win the bid.
How can these problems be solved? I suggest starting from two approaches:
First, cross-school joint tendering. Some single large schools, because of the massive procurement amounts, attract the covetous attention of vendors and elected representatives, and a principal who is even slightly careless can easily be bribed or give in to pressure. But if at least three or more schools tender jointly, the pressure on any single principal will not be so great.
Second, the selection committee should increase the number of teacher and parent representatives, and they should be chosen by election. On the one hand, this subjects the committee's operations to oversight by more people, making it harder for principals to manipulate; on the other hand, teacher and parent committee members should receive training so they understand the relevant professional knowledge and laws and are capable of scrutinizing group-meal companies.
Creating Space for Food Education Through Nutrition Lunch
In addition, nutrition lunch is the best opportunity for food education. From the perspective of food miles, local ingredients can be incorporated and paired with inspection controls to maintain the quality of nutrition lunch. Children can also learn, through the stories behind the food, about the care with which local farmers cultivate their crops; farmers, knowing that the food they produce will be eaten by relatives or neighborhood children, will also put more care into growing it.
The Role of School Dietitians Should Be Valued
Also, vegetarian days can be expanded further and paired with oversight by dietitians. I have seen many school nutrition lunch menus include gratin, but is this consistent with healthy eating? Dietitians play an important role in vetting menus, but at present many counties and cities do not have enough dietitians. Dietitians, like social workers and psychologists, entered schools too late. An ideal school should be like a hospital, with vertical division of labor and each specialty its own, rather than leaving everything to teachers to handle alone.
Improving Lunch Companionship and the Dining Atmosphere
As for lunch companionship, besides teachers, parents can take turns serving, just as parents can volunteer for crossing guard duties. Parents and homeroom teachers carrying out lunch companionship can not only maintain dining order but also observe whether children are picky eaters. As for the lunch costs of the companions, these can be specially allocated from the public budget, because this is official duty arising from lunch guidance, but it is not appropriate to pay for it out of the nutrition lunch fees.
Finally, principals and teachers can also think about how to improve the dining atmosphere, such as playing music, laying tablecloths, and even allowing children to push desks together to eat in the classroom. For example, New Taipei City's Ganyuan Junior High School, taking advantage of its proximity to Yingge, once promoted a "new tableware era" activity in its nutrition lunch program, encouraging children to make or buy ceramic tableware suited to them to replace stainless steel, which won wide acclaim.
A good atmosphere helps stimulate children's appetite. Our nutrition lunch dining atmosphere is too solemn, and some changes can be made.
Recommended Reading
Children, is your lunch nutritious? The Future in the Bowl: Special Topic Guide
Nutrition Lunch Corruption Scandal Spreads: National Federation of Teachers' Unions Demands Strict Punishment and the Establishment of Oversight Mechanisms
Newtalk Report: Wu Chung-Tai Laments: Principals Embezzling Money, the Road to Fame Leads to Hell
China Times: Eating Nutrition Lunch at Home, Education Minister Criticizes Lack of Conscience