The Cabinet of Ministers of Ukraine has recently allocated funds from the state budget to local budgets to provide meals to primary school students in general secondary education institutions in 2024. The relevant Resolution No. 1145 was approved on 4 October 2024.
Only municipal institutions will receive funds
Please note that pupils are provided with one hot meal per day, regardless of how many meals the child has during the day. That is, either breakfast or lunch can be free of charge. Only municipal educational institutions receive funds for meals.
These funds are used to purchase food if the educational institution has cooks and they prepare meals for students. In this case, the funds cover 100% of the cost of food. If meals for students are provided by catering or outsourcing services, no more than 70% of the cost of such services is covered by the subvention. The remaining 30% of the funds must be provided by the local community.
Parents of students ask educational institutions when their children will receive free meals.
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When will the funds come to educational institutions and how can parents influence this?
We briefly describe the procedure for receiving funds and providing free meals for students:
- The resolution was adopted, and funds began to flow to regions and communities.
- When the hromada receives the funds, it has to do the following:
- to convene a session of hromada deputies and make changes to the 2024 hromada budget (if meals are provided by the educational institution itself – cooks prepare them)
- to convene a session and amend the 2024 territorial community budget and allocate funds from the local budget – 30% of the cost of meals if educational institutions use catering or outsourcing services.
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And here the role of parents is important to ensure that the hromada session is held on time, that changes to the hromada budget are promptly adopted and funds are allocated (if necessary).
After all, at the end of 2024, if the hromada does not use the subvention funds, they will return to the state budget.
The community must transfer the funds to the relevant educational authority (department or department of education). If educational institutions have financial autonomy, the funds should be transferred to schools.
Food is purchased by education departments or educational institutions.
Depending on the amount of the procurement, whether it is goods (food) or catering or outsourcing services, the duration of the procurement procedure in accordance with the Law of Ukraine “On Public Procurement” can approximately last from 5 days to 1.5 months.
Preparation of food purchased through a subvention or the provision of services by a catering or outsourcing company.
Therefore, we urge communities to take the necessary decisions in a timely and efficient manner to ensure free meals for primary school students.
Parents can also take an active role in this issue, as there are communities where it is difficult to gather deputies for a session, so we advise them to be actively involved in self-government processes.
After all, your activity and position determine whether your children’s rights will be respected
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