MOE held a press conference to introduce the implementation of the Nutrition Improvement Plan for Rural Students in Compulsory Education [Photo/Zhang Jinsong]

On June 27, the MOE held a press conference in Guiyang, Guizhou Province to introduce the implementation of the Nutrition Improvement Plan for Rural Students in Compulsory Education. The event was hosted by Xu Mei, spokeswoman of the MOE and attended by He Xiuchao, Director of the Education Supervision Bureau under the MOE, Zhang Qian, Vice Director of the Student Nutrition Office, the National Institute for Nutrition and Health under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDCP), Huang Xia, Director of the Education Bureau of Tong Ren City, Guizhou Province, and Wu Yanfei, Vice President of Chang Tian Primary School of Huishui County, Guizhou Province.

According to Mr. He, since the launch of the Plan in November, 2011, the MOE has researched and designed an implementation process in consultation with National Development and Reform Commission, Ministry of Finance and other relevant departments, and begun to comprehensively roll out the scheme. Their efforts produced significant results in boosting students’ nutrition and physical fitness in pilot regions, which bolsters poverty relief, rural rejuvenation and educational justice. Advances have been made in seven key areas over the past seven years: policy making, financial input, school food safety inspection and financial management, public disclosure, coverage extension, promotion of good practices and international exchange. To date, central government has injected 124.8 billion RMB in food subsidies and earmarked a budget of 30 billion RMB to promote better nutrition. This money has been used primarily to support the construction of school cafeterias in pilot regions, benefiting 3.7 million students in 1,631 counties.

In addition, over the past five years the MOE has jointly organized international workshops on providing better student nutrition with the CCDCP, invited the World Bank, the World Food Programme and other international organizations to conduct field investigations in different regions in China, and attended international symposiums on nutrition improvement to share Chinese practices in this area.