Under the rule of the Chinese Communist Party, food safety issues have been frequently reported. Following the incident of students being served spoiled meat in a school cafeteria in Kunming, Yunnan Province, the Education Bureau in Fuzhou City, Fujian Province has implemented a mechanism where the director of the education bureau is required to dine with schools at least once a month. This move has sparked ridicule among netizens, who view it as mere formalism.
According to a report from “Fuzhou Education” official WeChat account on November 9th, the Fuzhou City Education Bureau has established a policy requiring the educational bureau director to dine with schools. The dining companions include the directors of the education bureaus at the county level in Fuzhou, deputy directors in charge, and heads of departments; the dining will take place in cafeterias of primary and secondary schools, and kindergartens, or schools that order food from external catering services for students. As per the rule, the accompanying personnel are expected to dine with schools at least once a month.
The official statement claims that this measure is aimed at strengthening food safety management in primary and secondary schools, kindergartens, and preventing incidents related to food safety and cafeteria management.
The report also mentioned that officials including Yu Xin, Secretary of the Education Work Committee of the Fuzhou Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, Secretary of the Party Group of the Education Bureau, and the director of the bureau, visited Minhou No. 1 Middle School on November 5th for a special food safety inspection and dined there.
This news has led to mocking comments on Weibo:
– User san yao zhou600839: “One cafeteria for teachers and students isn’t enough? Can’t the principal taste the food first for each meal? Isn’t that difficult to implement?”
– User wu san ji 20240629: “Parents should not be blocked from eating at any time, journalists should not be blocked from eating at any time, and responsible persons should be held accountable once a problem is found.”
– User hao han de_yu zhou: “This is all nonsense… I think it’s good to have parents supervise. Let parents accompany their children for meals, checking cafeteria operations should be a standard policy.”
– User na ke chuan tang: “In Japan, parents are often invited to taste the food.”
– User 2344 shi yi ge shen me shu: “Accompanying meals are not effective, it’s just a show for parents. Ensure the quality of lunch, improve the taste. No need for anyone to accompany the meals. The catering company is there to make money, and the more they earn, the better. Once the catering contract is signed, it’s for a year. This is a commercial activity, let the school supervise the quality, it’s hard for principals and teachers. They have no binding power on catering companies.”
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