Chungnam Completes Free School Meals from Daycare Centers to High Schools

[Asia Economy (Hongseong) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Chungnam Province is implementing 'complete free school meals' from daycare centers (ages 0 to 6) through high schools.

According to the province on the 30th, free school meals are promoted to realize social values such as increasing farm income by expanding the supply of excellent local eco-friendly ingredients, contributing to the physical and mental development of growing students, and alleviating the economic burden on parents.

With this purpose, the province supports free school meals this year for 2,962 institutions from daycare centers to high schools, covering 344,365 students.

First, the province started free school meals for local kindergartens in 2018. The kindergarten free meal budget is 9,568.9 million KRW, supporting 1,740 KRW per meal per person based on 220 days annually for standalone and private kindergartens, and 190 days annually for attached kindergartens. The project cost ratio is divided as 20% by the province, 30% by cities/counties, and 50% by the Chungnam Provincial Office of Education.

For elementary students, 423 schools with 121,689 students are eligible, and for middle school students, 186 schools with 57,498 students are covered. Among these, elementary students receive an average of 2,334 KRW per meal per person based on 190 days annually, totaling 53,963.56 million KRW, and middle school students receive an average of 3,067 KRW per meal per person based on 190 days annually, totaling 33,599 million KRW in budget.

High school free meals began in 2019, currently covering 119 schools with 57,802 students, and special schools with 9 schools and 1,152 students. The project cost is set at an average of 3,547 KRW per meal per person based on 190 days annually. The budget for free meals is 38,325.2 million KRW for high schools and 760.38 million KRW for special schools.

For elementary, middle, high, and special schools, the free meal budget is shared with 40% borne by the province and 60% by cities/counties.

Additionally, since last year, the province has included meal costs ranging from 1,900 KRW to 2,500 KRW per meal per person for daycare children aged 0 to 6 in childcare fees.

The total annual childcare fee for local daycare children is 371.4 billion KRW, of which meal costs are estimated at 33.92 billion KRW. The childcare fee support ratio is divided as 17.5% by the province, 17.5% by cities/counties, and 65% by the government.

In particular, the province separately supports 18,683.6 million KRW as the price difference for eco-friendly ingredients used in free meals from daycare centers to high schools. It also focuses on pilot projects to expand local seafood supply and supply traditional fermented sauces for school meals.

A provincial official said, “Free school meals are Chungnam’s leading policy to respond to the low birthrate and population cliff crisis and to improve the economic and social conditions that make it difficult to have and raise children. The province will focus on promoting free school meals with 15 cities/counties and the Provincial Office of Education so that all children in the region can attend school without worrying about meals.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.