MOE, schools to ensure meals are kept affordable for all students

As some canteen prices rise due to the higher costs of food supplies, the Ministry of Education (MOE) said it will work with schools to ensure meals are kept affordable for all students.

"Generous subsidies (will be) provided for those from needy families through MOE or school-based support," a spokesman for the ministry said earlier this month.

"Where we need to do more to provide additional subsidies for our needy students to have healthy and regular school meals, we will certainly do so."

The assurance comes as meal prices in some school canteens rose following the ministry's recent review of school canteen pricing guidelines.

The spokesman said MOE provides such guidelines to keep school canteen food affordable for students, while ensuring stallholders can get an adequate income to sustain their business.

Schools are encouraged to adjust their canteen food prices regularly to reflect the underlying cost while keeping the options affordable, MOE said.

The last time school canteen pricing guidelines were reviewed was in 2018, said MOE.

"Canteen stallholders who feel that their food prices are unsustainable can approach the schools with proposals, and the schools will evaluate such requests in line with the guidelines," the ministry added.

At the baseline, students in government and government-aided schools whose families have a monthly gross household income of $2,750 or less, or a monthly per capita income of $690 or less, receive a $2 subsidy for up to seven meals a week.

Checks by The Straits Times found that food prices have risen slightly in some primary and secondary schools, and junior colleges.

One primary school's canteen raised the prices of ban mian - a noodle dish - from $2.70 to $3, and Western fare from $3 to $3.20.

At another, the price of chicken rice was increased from $1 to $1.50.

For Primary 4 pupil Jody Seah, watermelon slices which used to cost 30 cents each are now 40 cents, and dragon fruit slices are now 60 cents each, double their price from last year.

Her mother, civil servant Jeslyn Seah, 39, said she has not had to increase her child's $2 daily allowance yet - but is aware that food prices are rising.

"With increased costs in oil, electricity and other things, increased canteen food prices are imminent," she said, referring to the impact from factors such as the Russia-Ukraine war and supply chain disruptions.

Other parents are also watching this development closely, although they say the increases are manageable at the moment.

Mr Mohamad Syahid Arif, 41, said: "My nine-year-old son is receiving MOE financial assistance, so for now things are quite okay, but any increase will have an impact on our daily budget."

His family of four spends about $700 a week on living expenses, including for food and groceries, and he and his wife, an assistant service manager at a bank, are expecting another child soon. Mr Syahid is a full-time caregiver for his brother, who has special needs.

He said: "We can give my son extra pocket money if he needs it, but I am still concerned about rising prices."

Core inflation in Singapore hit a 13-year high in May, rising to 3.6 per cent, the highest since December 2008, when it was 4.2 per cent.

Higher inflation prompted Deputy Prime Minister Lawrence Wong to say on July 4 that the Government will do more to help cushion the impact of the goods and services tax hike scheduled for January next year, if the economic situation worsens significantly.

While Mr Muhammad Amiruddin Abdullah, 39, a warehouse assistant, believes that the Government is doing its part for lower-income Singaporeans, he noted that some from middle-income families may be falling through the gaps.

Mr Amiruddin, whose two children are in Secondary 1 and Primary 2, said help from MOE means that, for the moment, they have enough leftover pocket money for snacks.